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MUCH  OLD  AND  MORE  NEW  HOG 

KNOWLEDGE,  ARRANGED   IN  ALTERNATE 

STREAKS  OF  FAT  AND  LEAN 

BY 

JACOB  HIGGLE 

'  iv 


ILLUSTRATED 


The  pig,  the  rent  payer  of  Europe,  the 
mortgage  lifter  of  America" 


PHILADELPHIA 

WILMER  ATKINSON  CO. 
1899 


COPYRIGHT,  1898 
WILMER  ATKINSON  Co. 


AGRJfc. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 6 

PREFACE        7 

CHART  SHOWING  EXTERNAL  HOG 9 

CHAPTER  I.  PIG  FIGURES n 

CHAPTER  II.  MANY  HOGS  OF  MANY  KINDS 13 

CHAPTER  III.  THE  BOAR 25 

CHAPTER  IV.  AT  FARROWING  TIME 27 

CHAPTER  V.  LITTLE  PIGS 35 

CHAPTER  VI.  SHOTEHOOD      39 

CHAPTER  VII.          THE  PIGGERY 43 

CHAPTER  VIII.        THE  PIGGERY  (Continued] 47 

CHAPTER  IX.  SWILL  TUB  AND  CORN  CRIB 57 

CHAPTER  X.  FEEDING  RATIONS 63 

CHAPTER  XI.  RECENT  EXPERIMENTS  ...          69 

CHAPTER  XII.  AN  EASTERN  CREAMERYMAN'S  WAY  ...    75 

CHAPTER  XIII.        WESTERN  PRACTICES 79 

CHAPTER  XIV.  WESTERN  PRACTICES  (Continued}    ....    85 

CHAPTER  XV.  BUTCHERING  AND  CURING  MEATS    ....    89 

CHAPTER  XVI.  SMITHFIELD  HAM  AND  DEERFOOT  SAUSAGE  99 

CHAPTER  XVII.      MARKET  POINTS 103 

CHAPTER  XVIII.     THE  POOR  MAN'S  PIG in 

CHAPTER  XIX.        THE  MANURE  PILE     117 

CHAPTER  XX.          HOG  CHOLERA    .  : 121 

CHAPTER  XXI.       OTHER  PIG  AILMENTS 131 

CHAPTER  XXII.      SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS 141 

INDEX 144 


P347066 


ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  BREEDS. 


BERKSHIRES 15,  88,  102 

CHESHIRES 21,  28 

CHESTER  WHITES 16,  141 

DUROC  JERSEYS 17,  118 

ESSEX 22,  105 

POLAND  CHINAS 14,  69,  81 

TAMWORTHS 18,  30 

VICTORIA 22 

YORKSHIRES .  19,  20,  117 


PREFACE. 


Hog  husbandry  is  undergoing 
changes.  New  feeding  methods  have 

r'j^  .-  come  into  vogue  ;  methods  based 

on  a  better  understanding  of  foods 
and  food  effects.  New  breeds  of  hogs  have  come  into 
existence  ;  breeds  resulting  from  intelligent  and  per- 
sistent effort  to  adapt  animal  to  locality,  and  to  the 
foods  of  that  locality,  and  to  special  market  require- 
ments. 

Experience  has  heretofore  been  thejnain  guide, 
but  science  now  comes  to  the  swineherd's  aid.  Experi- 
ence could  only  say  that  certain  results  would  follow 
certain  causes,  but  science  now  explains  the  causes. 
This  is  equally  true  of  breeding,  feeding,  and  the  treat- 
ment of  diseases,  and  there  is  less  blind  groping  than 
formerly. 

Railroad  development,  the  establishment  of  great 
abattoirs  or  slaughtering  establishments,  better  export 
facilities,  etc. ,  have  produced  marked  effects  upon  the 
hog  business  in  America  during  recent  decades. 

In  the  preparation  of  pork  products  for  market, 
there  is,  I  think,  a  distinct  tendency  visible  toward 
neater  and  more  attractive  packages,  and  also  an  in- 
creasing demand  for  lean  or  marbled  meats  rather 
than  for  excessively  fat  meats. 

The  lard  hog  has  been  challenged  by  the  bacon 
hog,  and  the  indications  are  that  the  pig  of  the  future 


8  PREFACE 

will  be  killed  younger  and  smaller  than  the  pig  of  the 
past. 

There  seems  to  be  an  increasing  willingness  to 
regard  the  hog  as  a  cleanly  animal,  capable  of  living 
apart  from  knee-deep  filth,  and  able  to  drink  pure 
water  and  to  eat  grass. 

As  to  swine  diseases,  great  progress  has  been 
made  in  their  study.  Hostile  bacteria  are  gradually 
coming  under  control,  but  it  is  very  evident  that  epi- 
demics are  more  easily  prevented  than  cured.  Clean- 
liness is  fully  warranted  by  all  economic  considera- 
tions. Much  space  is  devoted  in  the  following  pages 
to  a  review  of  hog  cholera  and  other  swine  ailments. 

I  give  three  chapters  to  the  subject  of  feeding 
because  of  its  prime  importance  in  profitable  hog  hus- 
bandry. The  proper  balancing  of  rations  is  now  quite 
fully  understood  by  leading  live  stock  men  every- 
where, but  there  are  still  thousands  of  people  who  are 
wasting  food  in  the  pig  sty  and  in  the  barn.  It  is 
worth  while  to  give  thought  and  time  to  the  study  of 
balanced  rations,  for  the  theory  applies  with  equal 
force  to  all  the  live  stock  on  the  farm,  and  feeding 
tables  and  analyses  are  now  within  the  reach  of  every- 
body, free  of  cost.  It  will  be  the  fault  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  themselves  if  they  do  not  henceforth  feed 
their  farm  animals  wisely  and  economically,  for  the 
Government  and  the  experiment  stations  have  placed 
ample  data  freely  at  their  disposal.  I  hope  this  little 
book  will  prove  helpful  in  the  same  lines. 

JACOB  BIGGLE. 


CHART  SHOWING  EXTERNAL  HOG. 


A  Abdominal  Region 

B  Neck 

C  Chest  or  Thoracic  Re- 
gion 

D  Withers 

E  Back 

F  Croup 

G  Hip-joint 

H  Stifle-joint 

I  Hock 

J  Cannon  Bone 


K  Pastern-joint 

L  Ergots  or  Rudimentary 

Claws  (Front) 

M  Claws 

N  Front  Cannon  Bone 

O  Knee-joint 

P  Shoulder-joint 

Q  Jowl 

R  Snout 

S  Head 


DIAGRAM  SHOWING  THE  DIFFER- 
ENT CUTS  OF  MEAT. 


CHAPTER  I. 


PIG  FIGURES. 

A  great  business  this  ,'   millions  in  it,  literally. — Tim. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  ago 
there  were  about  thirty  million 
hogs  in  the  United  States.  At 
the  present  time  there  are  about 
forty  million  pigs  in  this  land 
of  corn. 

Iowa  and  Missouri  each  has 
over  three  million  hogs,  with  Iowa  the  banner  state. 

The  average  value  of  the  swine  of  the  United 
States,  per  head,  is  placed  by  the  U.  S.  Department 
of  Agriculture  at  $4.10.  The  highest  valuations  are 
to  be  found  in  the  New  England  and  Middle  states, 
varying  from  $5.94  in  Maine  up  to  $9.29  in  Connec- 
ticut. Iowa  is  credited  with  an  average  price  of  $5.67 
and  with  a  total  hog  valuation  (U.  S.  Yearbook,  1896) 
of  over  $21, 000,000.  This  enormous  total  valuation 
is  well  nigh  double  that  of  Missouri,  the  next  com- 
peting state,  which  is  placed  at  something  over  $12,- 
000,000,  but  with  an  average  of  only  $3.99  per  animal. 
Ohio  and  Indiana  have  hog  valuations  of  over  $n,- 
000,000  each. 

In  American  live  stock  interests  cows  and  cattle 
rank  first  in  value,  horses  and  mules  second,  hogs 
third  and  sheep  fourth. 


12  BIGGLE    SWINE    BOOK. 

A  great  deal  is  said  about  the  * '  corn  belt ' '  of  the 
central  West,  but  it  is  an  error  to  suppose  that  all  the 
pigs  of  the  country  are  produced  there.  The  fact  is 
that  the  Southern  states  produce  great  numbers. 

The  U.  S.  Government,  through  the  Bureau  of 
Animal  Industry,  now  makes  a  scientific  and  careful 
inspection  of  all  meats  intended  for  interstate  or  foreign 
commerce.  "  The  sanitary  value  of  the  system,"  says 
a  recent  report,  * '  is  beyond  computation.  It  protects 
life  and  health.  Inspection  will  become  so  general 
and  so  perfect  that  not  a  single  pound  of  unwholesome 
meat  will  find  its  way  from  the  United  States  to 
foreign  markets,  nor  will  any  be  sold  at  home  which 
does  not  carry  a  certificate  of  inspection."  During  a 
single  year,  recently,  the  inspectors  examined  micro- 
scopically 979,380  specimens  of  pork,  either  whole 
carcasses  or  pieces,  and  found  11,000  samples  con- 
taining trichinae. 

The  cost  of  Government  inspection  of  meats  is 
stated  as  being  a  little  over  one-fifth  of  a  cent  per 
pound. 

There  is  at  present  no  official  inspection  of  home- 
consumed  pork  or  of  pork  intended  for  sale  in  the. 
markets  of  the  state  where  the  hogs  are  grown  and 
fattened. 

It  has  been  asserted,  though  I  cannot  say  how 
truly,  that  there  are  more  swine  in  the  United  States 
than  in  all  the  rest  of  the  world  combined.  This  is 
doubtful,  though  it  is  quite  probable  that  no  other 
part  of  the  world  produces  such  a  bountiful  supply 
of  excellent  hog  foods  as  the  United  States,  with 
corn  of  course  at  the  head  of  the  list. 


CHAPTER  IT. 
MANY  HOGS  OF  MANY  KINDS. 


There  is  no  best  breed  of  hogs,  but  several  of  the  breeds  are 
mighty  near  the  mark. — John  Tucker. 

The  breeds  of  hogs  raised  in  America  to-day  are 
Poland  China,  Berkshire,  Chester  White,  Duroc  Jer- 
sey, Tamworth,  Yorkshire,  Cheshire,  Victoria,  Essex, 
Suffolk,  etc.,  and  their  proportion  in  somewhat  the 
order  named. 

The  Poland  China,  Berkshire  and  Essex  breeds 
are  black. 

The  Chester  White,  Yorkshire,  Cheshire,  Victoria 
and  Suffolk  breeds  are  white. 

The  Duroc  Jersey  and  Tamworth  breeds  are  red 
or  brown. 

The  Berkshire,  Yorkshire,  Tamworth,  Suffolk  and 
Essex  are  of  English  origin. 

Of  American  origin  are  the  Poland  China,  Duroc 
Jersey,  Chester  White,  Cheshire  and  Victoria. 

Brief  and  necessarily  incomplete  descriptions  of 
the  several  breeds  now  in  favor  in  the  United  States 
will  be  found  in  this  chapter.  It  is  natural  for  every 
enthusiastic  hog  man  to  think  his  breed  is  the  best 
of  all,  and  worthy  of  minute  detailed  description. 
Yet  breed  is  much  a  matter  of  choice,  and  the  best 
hog  is  the  one  which  gives  the  greatest  return  for 
food  consumed.  Different  locations  seem  to  demand 


14  HIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 

different  types,  and  new  conditions  actually  develop 
new  strains. 

Possibly  it  is  true  that  there  are  more  American 
votes  to-day  for  the  Poland  China  breed  than  for  any 
other,  with  Berkshires  and  Chester  Whites  and  Duroc 
Jerseys  in  next  highest  esteem;  but  it  is  much  a  ques- 
tion of  fancy.  New  England,  for  instance,  seems  to 
think  well  of  Small  Yorkshires. 

POLAND  CHINAS.  This  admirable  and  widely 
popular  breed  of  hogs  ''largely  originated,"  as  one 


POLAND   CHINA   SOW,   TEN   MONTHS   OLD. 

account  puts  it,  "in  southwestern  Ohio."  It  had  its 
foundation  in  various  crossings  made  by  stockmen  in 
Warren  and  Butler  counties,  between  the  years  1816 
and  1842,  though  the  present  breed  name  was  not 
finally  adopted  until  1872.  They  were  formerly  called 
Magie  or  Butler  County  hogs.  Among  the  ancestors 
of  the  present  stock  were  undoubtedly  the  white 
Chinese  and  the  black  Berkshire.  The  present  fancy 
calls  for  pure  black,  or  nearly  so,  with  white  points ; 


MANY    HOGS    OF    MANY    KINDS.  15 

that  is,  white  feet,  white  tip  of  tail  and  white  about 
nose.  Often  there  are  sheets  or  patches  of  white  on 
the  body,  but  the  white  color  is  being  gradually  bred 
out.  The  size  of  the  Poland  China  is  large.  In  shape 
and  form  it  differs  from  the  Chester  White  in  being 
shorter  in  the  legs,  broader  in  the  back,  with  larger  and 
heavier  hams  according  to  size  of  carcass.  The  old- 
fashioned  Poland  China  had  drooping  ears,  but  the 
modern  type  has  a  thin  ear  which  tips  nicely  at  the 
point  rather  than  droops.  In  disposition  it  is  very 
docile.  It  fattens  easily  at  any  age,  and  is  in  all  re- 
spects an  excellent  breed.  The  name  is  unfortunate, 
for  there  is  no  Polish  breed,  and  the  name  Poland 
seems  to  be  based  solely  on  the  fact  that  some  of  the 
ancestral  stock  was  introduced  by  a  Polander.  The 
name  might  well  have  been  Miami  Valley  or  Ohio,  in 
honor  of  the  place  of  the  breed's  origin,  after  the 
English  custom,  but  it  is  too  late  now  to  change  it. 

BERKSHIRES.      This   English   strain,    brought  to 
America  in  1823,  is  in  high  favor  here.     It  is  likewise 


PRIZE   BERKSHIRE   BOAR,   UNDER   ONE   YEAR. 

in  favor  in  England,  in  Australia  and  in  other  parts  of 
the  world.     It  is  a  black  pig,  of  medium  size,  with  a 


l6  HIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

dished  face.  Typical  specimens  have  white  points ; 
that  is,  white  feet,  nose  and  end  of  tail.  The  breed 
originated  in  the  county  of  Berks,  England,  probably 
from  crossings  of  the  local  breeds  with  Chinese  and 
Neapolitan  stocks.  The  meat  of  the  Berkshire  is  in 
high  esteem,  the  fat  and  lean  being  well  intermingled, 
and  the  bones  comparatively  small.  The  animal  grows 
steadily  under  good  treatment  to  an  early  maturity, 
and  is  adaptable  to  its  surroundings.  With  pasture 
and  exercise  the  Berkshire  is  a  good  bacon  hog ; 
otherwise  it  may  go  too  much  to  lard.  Variations  of 
this  standard  stock  are  advertised  under  the  names  of 
Large  Berkshire,  Large  English  Berkshire,  Long  Eng- 
lish Berkshire,  Large  Improved  English  Berkshire,  etc. 
CHESTER  WHITES.  This  is  one  of  the  largest 
breeds,  long  and  deep  of  body,  with  broad  back  and 
deep,  full  hams.  The  legs  should  be  short,  and  the 


A  CHESTER   WHITE   BEAUTY  FROM  THE  WEST. 

head  also  short  and  broad  between  the  eyes.  The  face 
is  not  much  dished.  The  ears  project  forward.  The 
hair  is  plentiful  and  sometimes  wavy.  The  breed 


MANY  HOGS   OF   MANY   KINDS.  17 

originated  in  Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  is 
now  widely  distributed,  and  is  in  high  favor.  Chester 
White  hogs  have  been  among  the  heaviest  porkers 
ever  produced.  This  breed  has  been  variously  modi- 
fied, and  is  also  advertised  as  Improved  Chester  White, 
Ohio  Improved  Chester  White,  Todd's  Improved 
Chester  White,  etc. 

DUROC  JERSEYS.     This  breed,  or  its  variations,  is 
also  on  the  American  market  under  the  names  of 


DUROC  JERSEY. 

Jersey  Red,  Duroc,  Red  Duroc,  etc.  It  originated  in 
New  Jersey,  about  the  middle  of  this  century.  It  is  a 
large  animal  of  the  color  indicated  by  its  name,  or 
varying  from  red  to  brown  and  even  to  light  yellow. 
It  is  supposed  to  be  founded  upon  English  Tamworth 
stock.  The  Duroc  Jersey  has  a  long  and  deep  body, 
broad  back,  and  ears  lopping  forward  over  the  eyes. 
Sometimes  there  is  some  black  on  the  lower  portion 
of  the  body  or  on  the  legs. 

TAMWORTHS.  This  English  breed  is  of  recent 
origin,  deriving  its  name  from  Tamworth,  an  English 
town  adjacent  to  both  Staffordshire  and  Warwickshire, 


18  HIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

in  which  counties  it  is  abundant.  In  color  the  animals 
are  red,  chestnut  or  brown.  The  Tamworths  are 
bacon  hogs,  noted  for  their  large  production  of  lean 
meat  of  especially  fine  quality.  The  sows  are  usually 
prolific,  and  the  pigs  are  rapid  growers  and  mature 
early.  The  body  is  massive,  the  head  small,  the  ears 
erect,  and  the  snout  inclined  to  be  long.  The  hair  is 
long,  silky  and  thick.  In  England  they  are  popular, 
and  not  a  few  are  now  in  the  United  States.  The 
breed  is  sometimes  called  Red  Tamworth. 


AGED  TAMWORTH   SOW. 

YORKSHIRES.  There  are  three  more  or  less  dis- 
tinctly defined  strains  of  Yorkshires,  known  respec- 
tively as  Small,  Middle  and  Large.  All  are  white. 

The  Small  Yorkshire  is  regarded  as  the  smallest 
and  finest  of  swine.  It  has  a  dished  face,  short  snout, 
heavy  and  deep  body,  short  legs  and  fine  bone.  Small 
Yorkshires  mature  early  and  are  very  docile.  They 
are  popular  in  England  and  in  some  parts  of  America. 

The  Middle  Yorkshires  and  Large  Yorkshires  have 
many  points  in  common.  They  mature  quickly,  and 
produce  a  large  proportion  of  lean  meat.  They  are 


MANY   HOGS   OF   MANY   KINDS,  19 

long  and  deep  in  body,  short  in  head,  conspicuously 
dish-faced,  and  strong  in  bone.  The  skin  is  pinkish 
in  color,  with  an  occasional  bluish  spot,  and  the  hair 
is  white,  thick  and  soft.  The  ears  are  of  good  size 


SMALL    YORKSHIRE. 

and  point  forward.  Yorkshires  are  advertised  also 
under  the  names  of  Improved  Yorkshires,  Improved 
Large  Yorkshires,  Large  White  Yorkshires,  Improved 
White  Yorkshires,  etc. 

CHESHIRE.  This  excellent  white  breed  originated 
in  Jefferson  county,  New  York,  and  the  animals  used 
to  be  occasionally  called  Jefferson  County  pigs. 
Harris  says  they  were  at  first  exhibited  as  Cheshire 
and  Yorkshire  hogs,  and  afterward  as  Improved 
Cheshires  or  even  as  Improved  Yorkshires.  These 
facts  give  a  pretty  good  idea  of  their  origin.  They 
have  been  widely  distributed,  and  are  now  known  only 
as  Cheshires.  The  old  English  Cheshire  breed  was 
large  and  coarse,  but  the  American  Cheshire  is  a  great 
improvement.  The  color  is  white,  the  ears  small  and 
fine,  cheek  well  developed,  bodies  rather  long,  good 
shoulders  and  hams,  and  comparatively  small  bones. 


20  BIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

The  breed  is  a  valuable  one,  and  is  popular  in  certain 
parts  of  the  country.     There  is  a  Cheshire  register. 

VICTORIAS.  This  white  breed  was  originated  in 
Indiana,  within  recent  years,  by  George  F.  Davis. 
The  ancestry  is  said  to  be  Poland  China,  Chester 
White,  Berkshire  and  Suffolk.  The  Victoria  is  a 
larger  hog  than  the  Small  Yorkshire,  and  more  on  the 


AGED   MIDDLE   WHITE   YORKSHIRE  SOW. 

style  of  the  Berkshire,  but  white  in  color  and  of  quieter 
disposition.  It  is  said  to  fatten  more  readily  than  the 
Berkshire.  There  is  a  herd  register  of  Victorias,  two 
volumes  of  which  have  been  issued  (1898). 

The  name  Victoria  was  formerly  applied  in  Eng- 
land to  a  cross  between  the  Small  Yorkshire  and  the 
Cumberland  Small,  but  that  stock  now  goes  under  the 
name  of  Small  Yorkshire,  and  the  name  Victoria  in 
America  refers  to  the  Indiana  breed  above  described. 

ESSEX.  This  is  a  small  wholly  black  breed  of 
English  origin,  having  been  developed  in  Essexshire. 
It  has  nearly  or  quite  passed  out  of  existence  in  its 


MANY  HOGS  OF  MANY  KINDS.  21 

native  country,  the  result  of  continued  crossing  with 
the  Berkshire  and  Suffolk.  (The  English  Suffolk  is 
black,  the  American  Suffolk  white.)  The  Essex 
breed  is  still  recognized  in  the  United  States.  It  is 
classed  among  the  smaller  breeds. 

SUFFOLK.  The  English  Suffolk,  as  above  stated, 
is  black.  The  American  Suffolk,  a  white  pig,  is 
believed  to  be  a  variety  of  the  English  Yorkshire,  cor- 
responding in  size  to  the  Middle  Yorkshire.  It  has  a 
small  head,  short  snout,  dished  face,  upright  ears,  a 
short  neck,  good  length  of  body,  fine  bone,  pinkish 
skin  and  soft  hair.  It  matures  early  and  produces 


CHESHIRE  YEARLING    SOW. 

excellent  meat.      It  is,  however,    rather  sensitive  to 
sudden  changes  of  temperature. 

COMMON  PIGS.  Of  course  a  very  large  propor- 
tion of  the  pig  population  of  the  United  States  belongs 
to  the  nondescript  class  ;  that  is,  to  no  particular 
breed.  Owners  of  such  pigs  cannot  do  better  than  to 
cross  their  sows  with  thoroughbred  boars ;  but  a 
common  boar  should  in  no  case  be  used. 


BIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 


Some  success  has  followed  experiments  in  breed- 
ing the  Southern  razor-backs  with  thoroughbred 
stock,  the  native  blood  being  subsequently  reduced  to 


VICTORIA. 

one-fourth  or  one-eighth.  The  health  and  energetic 
habits  of  the  semi-wild  animal  are  thus  retained,  and 
also  certain  desirable  flavors  in  the  meat,  while  the 
later  crosses  fatten  readily  and  cheaply. 


PRIZE   YEARLING   ESSEX   BOAR. 

JUDGING  PIGS.  To  show  how  pigs  are  judged  in 
detail  I  present  the  following  standar  lc  of  excellence 
adopted  by  the  American  Berkshire  Association. 


MANY   HOGS    OF   MANY   KINDS.  23 

Somewhat  similar  standards  are  set  up  by  all  the 
American  Associations  having  registers  : 

Color— Black,  but  skin  and  hair  occasionally  showing 
tinge  of  bronze  or  copper  color,  with  white  on  feet, 
face,  tip  of  tail,  and  occasional  splash  on  arm  .       .      4  points. 
Face  and  Snout— The  latter  short,  broad  and  meaty,  the 

former  fine,  well  dished  and  broad  between  the  eyes,  9 
Eye— Very  clear,  rather  large,  dark  hazel  or  gray  ...  2 
Ear — Sometimes  almost  erect,  but  generally  inclined 

forward,  medium  size 4 

Jowl— Full  and  heavy,  running  back  well  on  neck  ...      4 

Neck— Short  and  broad  on  top 4 

Hair— Fine  and  soft,  inclined  to  thickness  in  male  ...      3 

Skin — Smooth  and  pliable 4 

Shoulder— Smooth  and  even  on  top  and  in  line  with 

side,  thick  through  chest 7 

Back — Broad,  long  and  straight,  or  slightly  arched,  ribs 

well  sprung  .   .  10 

Side— Deep  and  well  let  down,  straight  side  and  bot- 
tom line 6 

Flank — Well  back  and  low  down  on  leg,  making  nearly 

a  straight  line  with  lower  part  of  side 5 

Loin — Full  and  wide 8 

Ham — Deep  and  thick,  extending  well  up  on  back  and 

holding  thickness  well  down  to  hock 10       " 

Tail — Well  up  on  line  with  back,  not  too  fine,  short  or 

tapering          2 

Legs  and  Feet — Short,  straight  and  strong,  set  wide 
apart,  with  hoofs  nearly  erect  and  capable  of  hold- 
ing good  weight 8 

Size  and  Symmetry — Size  all  that  is  possible  without 

loss  of  quality  or  symmetry,  with  good  length  .   .      7       " 
Style— Attractive,    spirited,    indicative    of    thorough 
breeding  and  constitutional  vigor     3 

Total,        100  points. 


HOG  TALK. 

Go  many  miles  to  get  a  good  sire. 
Choose  the  breed  and  save  the  feed. 
Do  not  trade  a  long  body  for  a  short  nose. 
Do  not  choose  a  poor  boar  to  save  a  dollar  or  two. 
American  and  English  pig  names  do  not  always  correspond. 


24  BIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

The  bacon  type  of  hogs  have  more  stamina  than  the  lard  type. 

Cheshires  should  dress  from  500  to  600  pounds  when  fully 
grown  and  fattened. 

A  streak  of  lean  arid  a  streak  of  fat.  Breed  for  it,  feed  for 
it,  and  give  exercise  for  it. 

Two  breeds  of  swine  seldom  long  continue  in  equal  favor 
in  the  same  neighborhood. 

Small  Yorkshire  and  Essex  have  been  called  pig-pen  breeds, 
They  are  chunky,  quiet  and  lazy 

The  best  breed  is  the  one  which  will  rear  most  pigs  and 
make  most  and  best  pork  on  cheapest  food. 

Hogs  with  lopped  ears  are  not  so  nervous  as  those  with 
upright  ears.  They  make,  as  a  rule  better  mothers. 

For  the  profitable  sow  lay  more  stress  on  good  bone  good 
constitution  and  big  litters  than  on  a  number  in  a  herd  book. 

The  old  razor-back  has  been  driven  from  the  pig  kingdom, 
and  the  perambulating  lard  tub  will  have  to  follow.  Mix  the  lean 
and  fat. 

The  breed  is  not  so  much  consequence  as  the  pig.  In 
truth,  cross-bred  pigs  are  the  best  for  feeding.  Cross-bred  is  not 
grade.  Grade  is  the  result  of  crossing  thoroughbred  and  native, 
or  .with  no  breed.  Cross-bred  is  the  offspring  of  two  thorough- 
breds of  different  blood.  There  is  always  more  vigor  and 
stronger  appetite,  and  better  assimilation  when  blood  is  thus 
united. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  BOAR. 


The  boar  counts  for  half,  and  a  big  half. — Tim. 

If  we  suppose  that  each  parent  ex- 
I  erts  the  same  influence  upon  the  off- 
spring it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  influence 
[  of  the  boar  is  precisely  equal  to  that 
|  of  all  the  sows  combined. 

Vigor  of  constitution  is  believed  to 
depend  mainly  on  the  dam,  but  outward  form,  structure 
and  limbs  upon  the  sire.  Fineness  of  bone  and  early 
maturity  depend  on  the  boar. 

Boars  of  all  breeds  should  be  of  strong  build,  but 
without  coarseness.  Neck  and  body  should  be  short 
(for  the  particular  breed),  and  limbs  short  rather  than 
long.  Such  features  indicate  bodily  vigor  and  easy 
feeding.  Compactness  of  form  is  more  desirable  in  the 
boar  than  in  the  sow. 

Width  between  fore  legs,  with  large  girth  behind 
them,  denotes  active  heart  and  lungs.  Straight,  strong 
limbs  and  erect  hoofs  indicate  solidity  of  animal  frame- 
work. Smooth  skin  and  soft  hair  denote  activity  of 
the  liver  and  general  health.  Add  to  these  qualities  a 
quiet  disposition,  without  laziness,  and  the  result  will 
probably  be  a  good  sire. 

In  crossing  two  breeds  a  male  of  the  smaller  breed 
is  commonly  used. 


26  BIGCiLE  SWINB  BOOK. 

During  the  summer  season  the  boar  should  be 
allowed  the  run  of  a  grass  lot  if  possible,  and  should 
be  fed  some  grain,  but  not  kept  too  fat  At  the  breed- 
ing  season  he  should  be  in  a  strong  and  vigorous  con- 
dition, and  from  this  time  on  through  the  breeding 
season  he  should  be  fed  quite  liberally  of  stimulating 
but  not  fattening  food.  Let  him  be  rather  gaining 
flesh  during  the  breeding  season  than  losing  flesh. 

Do  not  turn  him  loose  with  the  sows.  This  I 
confess  is  more  convenient,  but  if  the  experience  of 
good  breeders  is  worth  anything  it  is  dear  convenience. 
Keep  him  in  a  pen.  alone  near  the  sows,  and  when  a 
sow  is  in  heat  allow  him  to  serve  her  once,  and  then 
return  him  to  his  pen,  A  boar  fully  grown  and  prop- 
erly fed  may  be  allowed  to  serve  two  sows  a  day  for 
several  days  in  succession,  if  necessary,  but  this  should 
not  be  continued  indefinitely  if  the  best  results  are  to 
be  expected.  About  one  sow  a  day  on  an  average  is 
about  the  limit 

Disappointing  litters  not  infrequently  result  from 
over-service  of  the  male. 


BRISTLES. 
Avoid  in-breeding. 

It  will  pay  every  time  tp  use  *  thoroughbred  boar. 
The  sire  should  have  bran  or  oats  ;  fed  for  vigor,  not  lor  fat. 
The  young  boar  should  be  trained  to  be  driven  ;  it  can  be 
done. 

An  ungovernable  boar  is  a  great  nuisance  and  always  dan- 


Neighbors  sometimes  jjoin  in  buying  a  good,  thoroughbred 
boar,  charging  fees  to  outsiders. 

Beware  of  the  scrub  thoroughbred.  Blood  without  quality 
is  worse  than  quality  without  btood. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


AT  FARROWING  TIME. 


The  wise  breeder  will  give  the  sows  proper  food  and  sufficient 
exercise  and  then  trust  nature  at  farrowing  time. — John  Tucker. 

A  sow  that  has  had  wise  feeding 
during  the  period  of  pregnancy  will 
seldom  have  difficulty  in  giving  birth  to 
her  offspring. 

A  sow  carrying  pigs  is  engaged  in  a  work  which 
demands  a  full  supply  of  the  tissue-making  or  nitro- 
genous foods  ;  foods  rich  in  protein.  Besides  main- 
taining her  own  life  she  must  secrete  the  material  for 
building  up  the  bodies  of  perhaps  half  a  score  of  little 
pigs  and  then  be  ready  to  supply  them  with  milk. 
These  pigs  at  birth  will  average  two  and  one-half 
pounds  in  weight,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  func- 
tion of  motherhood  is  a  severe  one. 

Demanding  nitrogenous  food,  such  as  clover, 
wheat  bran  or  middlings,  linseed  meal,  or  something 
else  rich  in  protein,  it  is  not  hard  to  understand  that  a 
sow  may  suffer  greatly  if  such  foods  are  denied  her, 
nor  is  it  surprising  that  when  pregnant  sows  are  fed 
almost  exclusively  on  corn  or  corn-meal  (which  con- 
tains only  one  part  of  protein  to  nine  or  ten  of  carbo- 
hydrates and  fat)  they  should  be  so  nearly  crazy  for 
protein  as  to  eat  their  own  young  when  they  are  born. 
Such  sows  are  literally  insane  and  irresponsible,  the 


28  BIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

result  of  poor  feeding.     The  animal  is  starving  for  a 
certain  kind  of  food. 

In  selecting  a  brood  sow  the  choice  should  be 
made  from  a  large  litter.  The  sow  should  have  a 
long  body,  plenty  of  teats,  level  back,  straight  and 
short  legs,  fine  hair  and  a  quiet  disposition.  Such  a 
sow  may  grow  so  deep  as  to  be  slab-sided,  but  if  she 
possesses  good  traits  and  high  constitutional  vigor  her 
coarseness  can  be  toned  down  bv  the  use  of  a  finer- 


YOUNG   CHESHIRE  SOW*—  A   GOOD   ONE. 

built  thoroughbred  boar.  The  disposition  of  the 
young,  unbred  sow  may  be  quickly  learned  by  catch- 
ing and  holding  her. 

The  disposition  of  the  sow  depends  largely  on 
her  treatment  from  pighood  up  till  maturity.  A  sow 
that  has  been  kindly  treated  will  in  most  cases  be  kind 
and  gentle,  and  too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  placed 
on  the  importance  of  having  a  sow  so  gentle  that  at 
farrowing  time  she  will  allow  the  attendant  to  enter 
her  pen  (if  necessary)  without  becoming  excited. 
The  life  of  the  whole  litter  and  often  that  of  the  sow 


AT   FARROWING   TIME.  29 

depends  on  the  assistance  which  may  be  rendered  by 
a  skilful  attendant.  In  an  experience  of  over  twenty 
years  I  have  never  lost  either  a  sow  or  her  litter  at 
farrowing  time  on  account  of  the  sow  not  being  able 
to  be  delivered  of  her  pigs;  though  I  have  lost  many 
sows  and  litters  because  the  sow  would  not  quietly 
submit  to  assistance. 

Sows  should  not  farrow  before  reaching  the  age 
of  one  year,  nor  should  boars  be  used  before  attaining 
the  age  of  eight  or  ten  months,  though  many  breeds 
will  mate  earlier  if  permitted  to  do  so.  It  is  a  com- 
mon mistake  to  breed  hogs  when  they  are  too  young. 

The  practice  of  mating  a  small  male  with  a  large 
sow,  which  is  so  common,  has  caused  the  invention  of 
various  breeding  boxes  or  crates,  of  which  several  are 
now  on  the  market,  arranged  so  that  the  different  sized 
animals  stand  upon  different  levels,  the  height  of  the 
rear  platform  being  adjustable. 

First  litters  are  not  usually  as  good  as  succeeding 
ones,  and  two-year-old  sows  are  better  for  breeding- 
purposes  than  younger  animals.  A  first-class  brood 
sow  should  be  profitable  for  a  number  of  years — six 
or  seven,  in  some  cases. 

The  period  of  gestation  is  sixteen  weeks.  I  have 
never  had  a  sow  give  birth  to  a  litter  of  living  pigs  at 
less  than  no  days.  My  experience  teaches  me  that 
young  sows  carry  their  pigs  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten 
from  in  to  113  days.  Old  sows  or  sows  after  first 
litter  carry  their  pigs  from  112  to  117  days,  the  time 
increasing  with  age. 

The  pigs  should  suck  for  six  or  eight  weeks,  and 
the  mother  should  have  a  resting  period  of  three 


30  BIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 

weeks.  This  will  make  it  just  about  possible  to  raise 
two  litters  per  year.  It  is  more  common  in  the  West  to 
allow  them  to  suck  for  from  ten  to  twelve  weeks. 
The  pigs  get  a  better  start  and  grow  more  rapidly, 
and,  it  is  claimed,  make  stronger  and  better  hogs. 

It  is  a  ques- 
tion for  individual 
breeders  to  deter- 
mine whether  to 
breed  once  a 

year,  twice  a  year,  A  TAMWORTH  LITTER. 

or  three  times  in  two  years.  There  are  instances  of 
three  litters  a  year,  but  the  best  intense  breeding  is 
somewhere  about  two  litters  per  year  ;  an  average  of 
perhaps  twenty-seven  weeks  to  each  litter.  The  sow 
will  usually  come  in  heat  a  few  days  after  the  pigs  are 
weaned  ;  sometimes  in  three  or  four  days,  depending 
on  the  amount  of  milk  secretion  and  general  condition. 
A  sow  in  good  vigor  will  come  in  heat  sooner  than 
one  which  is  in  poor  condition. 

A  week  or  two  before  farrowing  time  the  sow 
should  be  put  in  separate  quarters,  apart  from  the  other 
hogs.  She  will  carry  straw  and  make  herself  a  nest, 
and  will  usually  require  no  attention.  But  it  is  well 
to  keep  an  eye  on  the  event,  and  there  are  cases  where 
help  is  needed,  and  where  surgical  instruments  are 
necessary  for  the  safe  removal  of  the  pigs.  Forceps 
for  this  purpose  are  on  the  market.  Sows  rarely  have 
trouble  at  farrowing  time  if  the  bowels  are  kept  open. 

In  the  early  stages  of  gestation  no  special  care  as 
to  food  is  necessary,  but  as  the  period  advances  there 
must  be  an  increased  supply  of  nitrogenous  food. 


At   FARROWING   TIME,  31 

The  sow  about  to  farrow  will  eagerly  eat  carbonaceous 
food,  like  potatoes,  turnips,  apples,  cabbage,  roots, 
etc.  Such  food,  in  connection  with  milk,  wheat  bran, 
linseed  meal  or  other  nitrogenous  food,  is  good  for 
her.  Clean  sods,  charcoal,  etc.,  seem  to  have  the 
power  to  aid  digestion,  and  the  penned-up  sow  should 
have  such  things.  Never  feed  an  exclusively  corn  or 
1  corn-meal  diet. 

Laxative  food,  like  linseed  meal,  serves  the 
double  purpose  of  keeping  the  bowels  open  and  also 
of  supplying  needed  nitrogen  or  protein. 

The  brood  hog  should  not  be  fat,  but  neither 
should  she  be  thin  in  flesh,  but  must  be  in  good  con- 
dition and  well  nourished. 

A  few  hours  before  farrowing  the  milk  always 
comes  into  the  teats.  Internal  nourishment  of  the  off- 
spring has  been  completed,  and  nature  now  makes  pro- 
vision for  the  new  order  of  things.  Overfeeding,  or 
feeding  with  heating  or  constipating  foods,  is  likely  to 
make  trouble,  and  hence  it  is  common  practice  to  feed 
lightly  at  this  time.  Sow's  milk  is  much  richer  in  fat 
than  cow's  milk. 

Some  breeders  give  no  food  for  twenty-four  hours 
after  farrowing,  but  it  will  do  no  harm  to  furnish  the 
sow  with  some  bran  or  middlings  in  warm  water  if  she 
seems  hungry  or  thirsty.  For  three  days  the  food 
ration  should  be  light.  After  that  she  should  have 
milk,  bran  slop  and  other  nutritious  foods  for  a  week  or 
two,  and  then  some  corn  and  other  things  for  variety. 

Quietness  and  rest  are  more  essential  than  food 
immediately  after  farrowing,  and  the  sow  should 
remain  undisturbed  as  much  as  possible. 


32  HIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

In  cold  weather  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  cover 
the  new  arrivals  with  a  blanket,  but  this  need  not  be 
done  if  the  sty  is  free  from  draughts  and  not  too 
spacious.  Some  breeders  even  use  a  jar  or  bag  of 
hot  water  under  the  blanket. 

Exercise  is  to  be  encouraged,  for  the  sake  of  both 
dam  and  offspring.  The  bed  should  be  wholly 
changed  and  made  fresh  a  few  days  after  the  birth  of  ' 
the  pigs,  and  wet  straw  carefully  removed  at  all  times. 
Idleness  and  too  much  food  and  warmth  sometimes 
cause  the  little  pigs  to  contract  a  disease  known  as 
"thumps."  The  cure  is  difficult.  Exercise  is  the 
prevention. 

If  a  sow's  teat  is  so  sore  she  will  not  let  the  pigs 
suck,  cut  it  off  and  save  the  pigs.  Sometimes  by 
smearing  it  with  tar  the  pigs  will  let  it  alone  and  the 
sow  will  let  her  young  suck  ;  but  if  she  will  not,  cut  the 
nipple  off  close  to  the  udder  and  the  trouble  is  over. 

It  is  sometimes  necessary  to  throw  a  sow  on  her 
side  and  fasten  her  in  that  position,  in  order  to  allow 
her  pigs  to  feed.  In  case  the  sow  persists  in  her 
refusal  to  claim  her  pigs,  they  may  be  kept  near  her 
in  a  ventilated  box,  and  fed  as  indicated  until  she 
accepts  them.  A  sow  may  safely  be  kept  fastened  on 
her  side  all  night. 

It  is  well  to  teach  the  pigs  to  eat  from  the  trough 
as  soon  as  possible,  which  means  that  it  costs  less  to 
feed  them  direct  than  through  the  teats  of  the  dam. 
This  gives  the  sow  more  of  the  season  in  which  to  rear 
another  litter. 

As  soon  as  the  sow  has  gotten  used  to  the  loss  of 
her  pigs  she  may,  if  the  weather  be  warm,  be  put  into 


AT   FARROWING   TIME.  33 

a  pasture  and  allowed  to  run  there  until  the  next  far- 
rowing time,  being  fed  sparingly  or  not  at  all.  It  is 
preferable,  however,  to  give  her  a  little  wheat  mid- 
dlings, unless  she  has  access  to  clover,  peas  or  other 
nitrogenous  food. 


VIGILANTS. 

A  good  pig  may  be  of  any  color. 

Avoid  feeding  corn  in  hot  weather. 

Two  litters  a  year  is  good  practice. 

Save  the  best  sow  pigs  for  breeders. 

Do  not  breed  young,  immature  sows. 

Do  not  kill  good  breeding  stock  too  early. 

Keep  a  record  of  the  performance  of  each  sow. 

If  the  sow  eats  the  after-birth  no  harm  will  ensue. 

The  spaying  of  sows  does  not  seem  to  be  profitable. 

Breed  any  month  in  the  year,  if  it  suits  your  market. 

Breed  coarse,  well-formed  dams  to  finer  and  smaller  sires. 

If  lice  are  suspected  on  sows  use  grease  before  the  juniors 
arrive. 

Fatten  the  rattle-headed  sow  that  lies  on  her  pigs.  Try 
another. 

It  is  all  right  to  turn  corn  into  pork,  but  not  into  mere 
pork  oil. 

Separate  young  sows  from  older  ones  during  period  of 
pregnancy. 

There  is  no  more  profitable  animal  on  the  farm  than  a 
prolific  sow. 

When  pork  is  low  in  price  is  the  time  to  increase  the 
number  of  breeders. 

It  was  a  prolific  sow  that  presented  her  owner  with  seventy- 
seven  little  pigs  in  five  litters. 

A  breeding  sow  can  be  kept  on  about  the  same  amount  of 
food  that  it  costs  to  winter  a  shote. 

An  old  sow  is  apt  to  be  sluggish,  and  the  risks  of  her 
killing  her  pigs  are  twice  as  great  as  with  a  young  one. 


CHAPTER  V. 


LITTLE  PIGS. 

//  seems  to  me  that  the  juniors  always  do  best  when  neither 
coddled,  pampered,  overfed  nor  underfed,  but  just  have  a  fair 
chance  to  take  care  of  themselves.— Dorothy  Tucker. 

When  the  pigs  are  twenty- 
four  hours  old  let  the  sow  out 
into  the  air  and  sun  for  a  little 
exercise.  If  the  weather  is 
cold  a  blanket  may  be  needed 
over  the  young  things  while 
the  dam  is  aosent.  As  the 
pigs  get  older  let  the  sow's 
time  for  exercise  be  gradually  increased. 

Young  pigs,  especially  first  litters,  must  be  jeal- 
ously guarded  against  cold.  Early  litters  should  be 
born  in  closely-built  and  protected  structures,  though 
even  a  tight  building  may  be  so  roomy  as  to  be  unsafe. 
In  this  case  throw  up  a  temporary  floor  or  scaffold, 
and  cover  it  deeply  with  straw,  so  as  to  make  a  warm 
compartment  for  the  sow  and  her  pigs.  They  will 
need  such  shelter  until  the  pigs  are  eight  weeks  old. 

As  a  rule,  March  first  is  early  enough  for  a  litter 
to  arrive  in  the  Northern  states,  especially  if  the  sow  be 
green  or  immature.  September  is  a  good  time  for 
autumn  litters. 


There  is  a  wide  diversity  of  practice  in  teaching 
the  pigs  to  eat  from  the  trough.  Some  careful  breeders 
feed  the  sow  in  a  separate  compartment,  away  from 
the  pigs,  lest  the  little  ones  pick  up  scraps  for  which 
their  digestions  are  not  yet  ready.  Others  permit  the 
pigs  to  take  their  chances  along  with  the  mother. 
Others  provide  a  small  separate  trough,  out  of  reach 
of  the  sow,  and  feed  the  pigs  oats,  bran,  soaked  corn 
and  even  wheat.  The  wheat  should  be  cracked  if  thus 
fed,  and  I  should  in  no  case  tise  the  corn  alone.  The 
muscle-making  foods  will  make  some  fat,  but  the  fat- 
making  foods  'will  produce  little  muscle.  Corn  has,  it 
is  true,  some  muscle-producing  ability,  but  not  much, 
and  what  small  pigs  need  is  food  that  will  make 
muscle,  bone  and  blood.  The  real  demand  for  King 
Corn  will  come  at  a  later  stage  of  the  operation  ;  not 
in  pighood. 

All  in-doors  or  cold  weather  farrowing  demands 
careful  shelter  and  separate  management  for  each  sow, 
so  that  crowding  and  injury  may  not  ensue.  Sous 
due  to  pig  in  April  are  more  likely  to  have  good  luck 
with  their  young  than  sows  farrowing  in  February  or 
March,  unless  good  care  and  shelter  be  given  to  the 
earlier  litters. 

On  the  plan  of  two  litters  a  year  it  is  evident  that 
the  two  lots  of  pigs  must  be  cared  for  differently,  since 
one  lot  comes  in  spring  and  the  other  in  autumn.  But 
the  summer  freedom  and  exercise  of  the  dam,  in  con- 
nection with  a  diet  of  grass  and  clover,  may  be  confi- 
dently expected  to  produce  more  thrifty  pigs  in 
September  than  were  littered  in  March,  and  it  is  there- 
fore largely  a  question  of  care  and  management 


LITTLE    PIGS.  37 

whether  the  fall  pigs  or  the  spring  pigs  make  the 
more  rapid  progress  in  growth  and  development. 

Slimmer  feeding  is  commonly  supposed  to  be 
much  cheaper  than  winter  feeding,  because  in  cold 
weather  a  large  portion  of  the  food  is  burned  as  fuel 
to  supply  animal  heat.  It  is  only  fair  to  say,  however, 
that  during  the  sucking  period  the  September  .pig  has 
more  warm  weather  and  a  greater  variety  of  food, 
including  grass,  than  the  March  pig.  Hence  the  fall 
pig  just  after  weaning  should  be  a  cheaper  and  a  more 
thrifty  animal  than  the  spring  pig  at  the  corresponding 
period  of  its  growth. 

The  arithmetic  of  the  question  is  not  so  hostile  to 
winter  feeding  as  would  at  first  appear,  for  the  heat- 
producing  foods  are  not  expensive,  and  care  and 
shelter  count  for  much.  Then  there  is  not  uncom- 
monly a  better  market  quotation  on  well-rounded  six- 
months-old  pigs  in  March  or  April  than  in  the  fall, 
and  ready  cash  in  the  early  spring  is  a  very  acceptable 
thing. 

Castration  should  be  attended  to  at  the  age  of  six 
weeks,  while  the  pigs  are  still  with  the  sow  ;  and  I 
cannot  too  emphatically  urge  that  not  one  of  the  male 
pigs  of  a  common  litter  be  kept  for  breeding  purposes, 
no  matter  how  promising  its  appearance  may  be. 
No  reliance  can  be  placed  upon  the  offspring  of  such 
a  male,  even  though  sired  by  a  thoroughbred. 

Spaying  of  the  females,  which  consists  in  remov- 
ing the  ovaries,  is  not  much  practised  in  this  country. 

The  first  thing  a  litter  of  pigs  will  do  is  to  fight 
for  milk.  It  is  sometimes  necessary  to  cut  off  their 
sharp  front  teeth,  to  prevent  damage. 


38  HIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 

Pigs  should  not  be  weaned  under  eight  weeks  old  ; 
ten  is  a  better  age  ;  and  if  the  sows  are  bred  only  once 
a  year,  twelve  weeks  old  will  do  better  still. 

The  process  is  differently  performed  by  different 
breeders.  I  know  of  no  better  plan  than  to  change  the 
food  of  the  dam  from  a  milk-producing  to  a  non- 
milk-producing  basis  (corn-meal  and  water  with  grass 
for  instance),  and  take  her  away  from  the  pigs  for 
twenty-four  hours.  Then  let  her  return,  and  allow 
them  to  suck.  Then  keep  her  away  for  two  whole 
days,  and  again  allow  them  to  suck.  Then  make  the 
separation  final.  The  pigs  have  become  shotes. 

SQUEALS. 

Give  oats  to  the  youngsters. 

^SS^*.    ^^?          Feed  up  the  runt  for  a  roaster. 
'"-Jv*^5*."^'. »  —"~         Have   a    few    pigs    every    year   to    sell    to 
neighbors. 

Attempt  to  have  pigs  of  only  one  size  in  the  same  enclosure. 

Small   pigs  grow   rapidly   in   a   cold    rain  ;    that    is,    rapidly 
smaller. 

Avoid    scours   by   keeping    things   clean   about    trough    and 
swill  tub. 

Any  day  in  the  year  is  suitable  fora  pig's  birthday,  if  it  can 
thus  meet  a  market  requirement. 

In  cold  weather  it  will  pay  well   to  give  warm  food  to  the 
pigs  for  a  time  after  weaning  them. 

After  a   pig  attains  seventy-five   pounds   it  is  ready  to  lay 
on  a  pound  or  more  of  flesh  per  day,  if  well  fed. 

Get  sow  and  pigs  on  the  ground  by  the  time  the  youngsters 
are  three  weeks  old.     Grass  is  food  and  medicine. 

As  a  last  resort,  where  the  mother  has  insufficient  milk,  put 
a  rubber  nipple  on  a  tin  bottle  and  assist  things. 

Aim  for  a  daily  gain  of  one  and   one-half  pounds  per  pig. 
If  you  do  not  work  for  it  you  will  probably  not  get  it. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


SHOTEHOOD. 

A  good  start  with  pigs  is  more  than  half  the  race,  for  a  well- 
started  pig  is  nearly  sure  to  be  healthy. — Tim. 

The    treatment 
of  shotes,  or  young 
hogs,  is  a  matter  of 
moment,  for  profits 
d  e  p  e  n  cl    upon    it. 
Shall   we    feed    for 
I  bacon   or  for  lard? 
WHERE  is  OUR  MOTHER?  Is  the  aim  an  ani- 

mal weighing  200  pounds  or  400  pounds  ?  Is  reliance 
to  be  placed  wholly  on  home-produced  stuffs  or  par- 
tially upon  purchased  foods? 

I  think  most  of  my  readers  must  have  recognized 
the  general  tendency  toward  smaller  and  lighter  hogs, 
as  compared  with  old-fashioned  customs.  Many  mar- 
kets will  now  take  2oo-pound  animals  in  preference  to 
3oo-pound  animals.  The  meat  of  the  smaller  animal  is 
certainly  better  and  more  palatable,  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  is  more  cheaply  produced,  for  pigs  gain  in 
weight  much  more  rapidly  during  the  first  six  months 
of  their  growth  than  during  the  second  six  months. 

Local  conditions  must  govern  local  practices,  but 

wherever  the  light  hog  will  sell  let  him  be  thus  sold. 

When  it  comes  to  the  food  question,  and  economy 

demands  the  consumption  of   home-grown  products 


40  HIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

(no  matter  what),  it  is  only  necessary  to  properly 
balance  such  rations,  either  by  use  of  what  is  already 
on  hand  or  by  the  purchase  of  whatever  may  be  lack- 
ing. It  is  high  time,  however,  for  everybody  to  realize 
that  corn  is  not  a  perfect  food  for  hogs,  and  must  not 
be  used  alone,  except  for  finishing. 

I  have  no  notion  of  allowing  pigs  to  root  up  new 
clover  sod,  for  that  is  trespassing  on  next  year's  food 
supply,  but  otherwise  I  am  in  some  doubt  about  the 
necessity  for  rings.  It  is  the  nature  of  the  beast  to 
root,  and  perhaps  it  can  be  broken  up  in  no  manner 
except  by  the  use  of  a  piece  of  iron  in  the  snout.  But  I 
am  forced  to  think  that  perhaps  the  pig  roots  in  the 
ground  to  satisfy  certain  cravings  for  food  which  would 
otherwise  remain  unsatisfied.  A  smoothing  harrow 
and  some  grass  seed  will  repair  damage  caused  by 
rooting,  especially  if  there  is  more  than  one  pasture, 
so  as  to  make  it  possible  for  the  grass  to  grow.  Each 
swine  raiser  must  decide  for  himself  whether  or  not  to 
use  rings.  My  western  friend  tells  me  that  rings  are 
never  necessary  in  the  noses  of  hogs  fed  salt  and  char- 
coal ;  that  a  pig  roots  simply  because  there  is  a  lack  of 
phosphoric  acid  for  bone  growth. 

There  are  both  iron  and  copper  rings  on  the  mar- 
ket, but  I  do  not  like  the  latter.  The  ring  must  not 
be  set  in  so  deeply  as  to  wound  the  bone,  and  never 
through  the  partition  between  the  nostrils.  In  my 
opinion  much  evil  has  come  from  putting  rings  in  the 
snouts  of  hogs. 

There  is  perhaps  no  better  system  of  hog  pastur- 
ing than  a  series  of  long  narrow  fields.  Here  the  hogs 
may  eat  grass,  and  the  cultivation  of  forage  crops  in 


SHOTEHOOD.  41 

the  unoccupied  enclosures  makes  it  easy  to  feed  by 
simply  cutting  the  stuff  and  throwing  it  over  the  fence. 
The  narrow  plats  thus  grow  rich  quite  rapidly,  and 
produce  more  and  more  pig  feed.  Hogs  can  be  suc- 
cessfully grown  in  pens,  but  pasturage  is  surely  better. 
A  shaded  enclosure,  like  an  orchard,  is  an  excellent 
place  for  pigs. 

Water  should  at  all  times  be  accessible  to  hogs; 
preferably  running  water.  The  hog  is  a  clean  animal, 
if  given  a  fair  chance. 

The   sleeping  apartments 
should   not  be  neglected,    or 
they  will  become  foul  and  un- 
wholesome. Penned  pigs  need 
a  good  scratching  post.     Get 
a  rough  log  and  fasten  it  se- 
curely in  the  pen  as  shown  in   ^L2 
the  illustration.    It  will  be  pop- 
ular and  it  will  pay.     The  sheds  should  be  cleaned  out 
frequently,  both  in  winter  and  in  summer. 

Pigs  do  best  in  small  lots  ;  not  more  than  five  in  a 
nest.  It  is  much  easier  to  secure  fair  play  at  feeding 
time  with  a  small  number  than  with  a  large  number. 
Large  herds  should  be  divided  for  sleeping  purposes 
and  for  feeding,  and  pregnant  sows  must  be  looked 
after  that  they  are  not  too  much  knocked  about. 

There  will  be  but  few  sick  hogs  if  dry,  warm, 
clean  sleeping  quarters  are  always  available.  Growing 
pigs  will  not  harm  themselves  by  overeating  if  they 
can  obtain  sufficient  exercise. 

The  production  of  lean  meat  is  partly  a  matter  of 
breed  and  partly  a  matter  of  food  and  exercise.  Some 


42  BIGGLE    SWIXE    BOOK. 

breeds  are  known  as  bacon  hogs,  and  these  seem  to 
produce  much  lean  meat.  The  nitrogenous  foods 
distinctly  favor  lean  meat,  and  exercise  operates  in  the 
same  direction.  Lean  meat  is  muscle. 

To  produce  lean  meat  practically  I  give  the  ani- 
mals a  large  pasture  field,  and  allow  them  to  eat  grass 
and  to  root.  I  feed  skim-milk  and  bran  or  middlings, 
and  keep  them  there  until  the  approach  of  cold 
weather,  when  they  must  of  course  have  access  to 
warm  quarters.  A  little  corn  at  the  last  is  keenly 
relished  by  the  pigs,  and  does  not  excessively  increase 
the  fat,  if  fed  for  only  a  few  weeks  before  butchery. 
Such  hogs  would  of  course  lay  on  fat  very  rapidly 
under  a  long  continued  corn  diet. 


DINNER  TIME. 


PROMISES. 

Bristles  denote  a  coarse  skin. 
A  wet  pen  will  make  a  lame  hog. 
The  curry  comb  will  do  no  harm. 
Black  teeth  do  not  indicate  disease. 
Shift  the  hog  pasture  every  year  or  two. 
Give  a  hoggish  hog  a  separate  apartment. 
The  hog  is  not  responsible  for  poor  fences. 
Doctoring  cannot  take  the  place  of  cleanliness. 
Swine,  like  foolish    men,  never  back   down   when  they  are 
wrong. 

The   proper  development  of  the  pig  is  lean  first  and   fat  af- 
terward. 

Chicken-eating  hogs  need  more  wheat  middlings,  clover  or 
skim-milk  and  less  corn. 

Plan  a  place  where  the  pigs  can  rub  a  little  and  lie  in  thesun 
out  of  the  wind  in  cold  weather. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


THE  PIGGERY. 


One  sow  and  one  litter  in  each  enclosure  is  the  idfal  nutn- 
bet . — Tim. 

The  ground  where  the  piggery  is  to  be  located 
should  be  high  and  dry,  so  that  the  rains  will  wash 
away  all  filth.  If  the  ground  is  well  shaded  and  well 
watered,  so  much  the  better,  but  by  no  mcAns  should  it 
be  located  on  a  stream  which  flows  across  other  land,  as 
the  danger  of  disease  is  thus  greatly  increased.  A  spring 
located  on  ground  over  which  you  have  entire  control 
would  be  all  right,  but  statistics  show  that  streams  are 

the  most  potent 
agency  in  the  distri- 
bution of  hog  chol- 
era germs.  In  the 
absence  of  a  spring, 
water  can  be  cheap- 
ly and  conveniently 
furnished  with  a  tank 

LOOK   OUT   FOR   CHOLERA    HKRE.  placed    Oil   SCttlC  Q\Q~ 

vation  and  pipes  to  carry  the  water  where  needed. 
Windmills  are  now  so  cheap  and  so  effective  that  the 
matter  of  supplying  water  in  this  manner  can  be  ac- 
complished at  little  cost.  In  the  absence  of  natural 
shade,  artificial  shade  should  be  constructed  by  setting 
crotches  in  the  ground  and  laying  poles  or  rails  across 


44  BIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

and  then  covering  with  a  good  roofing  of  straw.  It 
should  be  located  on  the  north  side  of  a  fence  or  hedge 
and  should  not  be  too  high.  Dirt  is  the  best  floor  for 
a  shed  of  this  kind  that  can  possibly  be  used.  In  hot 
weather  the  hog  delights  to  lie  on  the  ground,  and  if 
allowed  to  do  so  they  rarely  seem  to  suffer  much  from 
heat.  Great  care  should  be  used  not  to  expose  hogs 
to  the  sun  when  the  weather  is  hot,  for  no  animal  will 
die  so  quickly  from  heat  as  the  hog. 

For  pasturing  hogs  during  the  fattening  process,  a 
good  rule  is  to  allow  an  acre  of  ground  for  every  five 
hogs,  letting  them  all  run  in  one  pasture.  If  raising 
pigs  is  the  object,  the  pasture  should  be  divided  into 
lots,  of  about  an  acre  each,  with  pig-tight  fencing. 
This  enclosure  will  be  large  enough  for  two  sows  and 
their  litters,  and  not  more  than  two  sows  and  litters 
should  be  kept  in  the  same  enclosure.  When  several 
litters  are  allowed  to  run  together,  the  strong  rob  the 
weak  in  spite  of  anything  I  was  ever  able  to  do.  But 
when  kept  separate,  all  feed  alike  and  grow  alike.  If 
I  had  room  for  only  two  litters  I  would  raise  but  two 
litters.  Two  litters  well  cared  for  will  make  more 
money  than  four  litters  poorly  cared  for. 

Where  pigs  run  in  a  pasture  or  orchard,  the  shelter 
for  the  farrowing  sow, 
shown  herewith,  has  been 
found  highly  satisfactory. 
A  horse  can  be  hitched  to 
it  and  take  it  to  any  part 
of  the  field.  In  the  illus- 
tration the  boards  are  cut  away  on  one  side,  showing 
the  interior.  It  should  be  made  eight  by  four  feet  with 


THE    PIGGERY.  45 

a  sharp  peaked  roof.  The  runners  should  be  made  of 
two-inch  plank,  eight  feet  long  and  two  inches  wide, 
with  holes  for  a  chain  in  each  front  end,  set  four  feet 
apart  and  fastened  together  at  the  back  with  a  piece 
two  by  three,  four  feet  long.  This  home  will  make  am- 
ple room  for  a  sow  and  her  litter  and  can  be  placed 
where  convenient,  facing  the  south.  It  will  also  ac- 
commodate three  good-sized  sows  before  farrowing 
and  keep  them  comfortable.  Around  the  sides  of  this 
home,  or  any  other  pen  used  by  a  farrowing  sow, 
should  be  fastened  a  strip  nine  inches  wide  and  nine 
inches  from  the  floor  as  a  protection  for  the  little  pigs. 
This  arrangement  will  prevent  them  being  crushed 
when  the  sow  lies  clown,  as  they  can  escape  under  this 
slat  and  crawl  out  at  either  end. 

Another  rather  more  pretentious  western  farrow- 
ing pen,  as  here  shown,  comes  to  me  from  Ohio.  It  is 
six  by  seven  feet,  built  on  three  two 
by  three  oak  scantling  and  is  six  feet 
high  in  front  and  two  at  the  rear,  giv- 
ing the  roof  a  steep  pitch.  Grooved 
pine  boards  are  best  for  sides  and  ends,  with  a  door 
two  and  one-half  feet  wide.  Place  the  shelter  so  that 
the  door  will  face  the  south.  Put  a  clevis  in  the  middle 
runner  so  that  the  pen  can  be  moved.  Block  the  run- 
ners up  so  that  they  will  not  rot  off.  Keep  the  doors 
closed  a  few  days  after  the  pigs  are  farrowed,  accord- 
ing to  the  weather. 

A  convenient  portable  pen 
for  a  small  pig  and  well  suited  '*$&&&£ 
for  getting  the  pig  out  of  doors      '*  "   ** 
on  a  village  place  is  shown  herewith.    It  has  no  bottom. 


46  BIGGLE    SWINE    BOOK. 

The  covered  end  protects  the  occupant  from  sun  and 
rain.  Two  wheels  made  from  a  plank  are  screwed  at 
one  end,  while  handles  are  placed  at  the  other.  It  can 
be  moved  its  length  every  clay. 

Many  cheap  shelters  for  hogs  used  in  the  Ohio 
valley  are  made  by  piling  the  straw 
from  the  stacker  over  and  around  a 
simple  frame-work.  The  illustration 
shows  a  type  of  this  cheap  but  effec- 
tive shelter.  It  would  be  better  with  the  sides  boarded 
up  and  straw  piled  all  over  it  except  the  front. 

For  a  permanent  hog  pasture  sow  four  quarts  of 
clover  and  two  bushels  of  blue  grass  where  this  grass 
does  well.  If  not  blue  grass  then  orchard  grass,  the 
same  quantity.  The  clover  will  furnish  feed  for  the 
first  season  while  the  other  grasses,  which  are  slower 
to  start,  are  coming  up.  The  clover  will  usually  die 
out  the  second  year,  but  the  blue  grass  or  the  orchard 
grass  will  hold  on  for  years  if  allowed  to  get  a  start 
before  winter  sets  in,  so  as  to  cover  the  crowns  of  the 
plants.  The  quantity  of  seed  named  is  where  the 
land  is  in  excellent  order,  and  if  it  is  not,  double  the 
amount  should  be  used  to  insure  a  thick  sward. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THE  PIGGERY—  Continued. 

Don't  give  the  hogs  the  sunny  side  of  a  wire  fence  for  shelter, 
nor  yet  put  them  in  a  little  four  by  six  pen.  A  well  planned  hog 
house  will  pay. — John  Tucker. 

When  building  a  more  pretentious  and  permanent 
pig  pen,  the  following  general  suggestions  will  be  help- 
ful. Select  a  dry  spot  where  there  will  be  natural  drain- 
age, away  from  the  house  and  other  farm  buildings, 
and  place  the  building  so  that  it  will  open  to  the  south 
or  southeast,  and  far  enough  away  from  the  house  to 
avoid  any  bad  odors  reaching  there.  No  stock  enjoy 
a  sheltered  place  where  they  can  bask  in  the  sun  more 
than  swine.  Both  roof  and  floor  should  be  tight,  warm 
and  dry.  To  be  shut  up  in  a  little,  damp,  nasty  pen 
on  a  plank  floor  or  on  stones  or  in  the  mud  with  a  wet 
or  filthy  bed  is  not  conducive  to  health.  While  every- 
thing is  warm  and  tight,  do  not  overlook  plenty  of  well 
arranged  ventilation. 

My  old  pen  was  floored  with  oak  planks,  but  in  my 
'  new  pen  I  have  tried  a  cement  floor  for  the  feeding  pen 
and  entries  ;  of  course,  the  runways  back  of  each  pen 
are  not  cemented.  It  is  not  well  for  the  hogs  to  sleep 
on  a  cemented  floor  even  with  a  good  bedding  of  straw, 
as  they  will  work  down  to  the  cold  cement,  which  robs 
them  of  animal  heat.  It  takes  too  much  corn  to  warm 
up  the  pigs  and  the  cement  too.  I  have  a  sleeping  floor 


4o  HIGGLE    SWINE    BOOK. 

made  of  two  inch  thick  planks  on  one  side  of  the  feed- 
ing pens  with  a  board  six  inches  wide  along  the  side  to 
keep  the  bedding  in  place.  The  cement  floor  is  easily 
cleaned  ;  it  does  not  rot  and  break  away  nor  does  it 
offer  a  harbor  for  rats  as  a  plank  floor  is  apt  to  do  ; 
the  urine  and  manure  are  not  wasted.  In  summer  the 
coolness  of  the  floor  is  appreciated  by  the  hogs.  It 
should  slope  enough  to  carry  off  water. 

Be  careful  not  to  have  the  floor  of  the  feeding  and 
sleeping  pen  much  above  the  level  of  the  yard,  yet  it 
ought  to  be  a  few  inches  higher  so  that  the  water  will 
not  run  in.  Some  of  my  neighbors'  runs  are  way  below 
the  level  of  the  pen  so  that  the  hogs  have  to  scramble 
up  like  mountain  goats  to  get  in.  Have  a  comfortable 
door  into  the  pen  so  that  a  man  can  get  in  to  clean  out  the 
pens.  If  you  have  to  climb  over  every  time  the  pen  will 
not  get  cleaned  often.  It  should  be  done  frequently. 

Have  a  door  between  the  feeding  pen  and  the  lots 
that  can  be  easily  shut  and  opened.  Mine  slide  up  and 
down  and  are  worked  by  a  pulley  and  a  rope  that  ex- 
tend to  the  entry  so  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  go  into 
the  pen  to  open  and  shut  them. 

There  is  a  per  cent,  of  gain  in  a  good  bed  for  hogs. 
When  hogs  squeal  all  night  with  the  cold,  or  for  lack 
of  comfort,  there  is  loss.  Each  squeal  represents  an 
ear  of  corn  and  some  of  them  a  big  ear. 

When  hogs  pile  up  on  top  of  each  other  they  are 
apt  to  get  sick.  The  under  hogs  get  too  hot  and  are 
sure  to  catch  cold.  Either  put  fewer  hogs  together  or 
have  the  bed  so  large  and  dry  that  it  will  not  be  neces- 
sary for  its  occupants  to  fight  to  get  under  to  keep  warm 
or  on  top  to  keep  dry.  However,  little  bedding  is  best 


THE    PIGGERY. 


49 


FEEDING  ffOOM 


for  the  breeding  sow.  The  new-born  pigs  get  tangled 
in  the  straw  when  there  is  too  much,  and  they  get  un- 
der it  and  the  sow  lies  on  them.  They  should  always 
be  in  sight. 

Here  is  a  design  for  a  small,  inexpensive  house. 
The  plan  shows  the  arrangement.     It  is  twelve  and 
one-half  by  eight  and  one-half  feet, 
divided  by  the   low  partition  P. 
The  doors  are  marked  DD.     The 
one  from  the  feeding  room  leads 
out  into  the  yard.    The  feed  trough 
is    shown    with    the    chute    that 
PLAN  leads  to  it.    The  house  is  eight  and 

one-half  feet  high  in  front  and  five  feet  in  the  rear. 
The  eaves  should  project 
a  foot  or  more.    The  par- 
tition is  five  feet  high  at 
the  highest  part,  sloping 
down  to  six  inches.     WW ' . 
are  the  windows,  one  and  SECTION 

one-half  by  two  feet.  The  door  leading  into  the  yard 
should  be  two  and  one-half  feet  high  and  two  feet 
wide. 

An  Ohio  man  sends  me  his  plan  for  a  combined 
hog  house  and  corn  crib  shown  herewith.  Fig.  i 
is  the  floor  plan.  It  is  forty  feet  long  and  thirty  feet 
wide,  exclusive  of  the  runways  marked  FFF  in  the 
plan.  The  pens  are  eight  by  ten  and  the  entry  is  ten 
feet  wide.  The  outside  runs  are  as  long  as  you  care 
to  make  them.  This  house  can  be  lengthened  or 
shortened  to  suit  the  requirements  of  the  builder 
by  leaving  off  or  adding  pens  to  the  plan  as  here 


HIGGLE    SWINE    BOOK. 


shown.      A  is  the   driveway  entered  through   either 
end  by  the  sliding  doors  BB.      CCC  are  the  feed 


-H 
ji 


troughs.      DDD   are   the   pens  connected   by  doors 
with  each  other  and  by  the  open  runs  FFF\yy  doors. 
>j^  Fig.   2   shows  a  cross 

v-j£__  _js.  section  view.     It  is 

>^^    — Q —  ^5!v  twenty-four  feet   from 

the     ground     to     the 
peak  of  the  roof.    A  is 
the  doorway  ;  B B  the 
—  cement  floors  ;   COire 
FIG.  2.  the  feed  troughs  ;  DD 

the  swinging  doors  to  protect  the  troughs  while  the 
swill  is  being  poured  in.  The  one  on  the  right  is 
shown  open  ;  the  one  on  the  left,  closed.  EE  are  the 
chutes  for  the  corn  to  come  down  and  EFa.re  the  cribs. 
GG,  bins  for  bran,  meal,  etc.  Fig.  3  is  a  section 
lengthwise  of  the  house.  CC  are  the  feed  troughs  ; 
DD  are  the  swinging  trough  doors;  EE  are  the  doors 
to  the  corn  crib  chutes  ;  FF  shows  the  lathing  for 


THE    PIGGERY. 


the  crib  of  one  and  one-fourth  by  two  inches,  lath 
placed  three-fourths  of  an  inch  apart.  HH  are 

openings  through 
which  the  corn 
is  thrown  into 
the  crib  from  the 
wagon  in  the  en- 
try. The  cement 

1 ,  floors  also    form 

FIG.  3.  the  foundation  on 

which  the  building  stands.  This  pen  will  accommo- 
date from  ten  to  twenty  brood  sows  with  their  pigs, 
and  the  cribs  will  hold  2500  bushels  of  corn.  The 
driveway  may  be  used  as  a  shelter  for  farm  imple- 
ments or  for  a  cooking  outfit,  if  desired.  This  plan 
of  a  pen,  however,  is  open  to  one  great  objection  in 
our  cold  northern  states  :  if  one  set  of  pens  is  placed 
towards  the  south,  the  other  set  necessarily  opens  to 
the  north  and  are  consequently  cold  and  icy. 

The  illustration  here  shown  is  an  adaptation  of  the 
pen  of  a  leading  Wisconsin  hog  raiser.    The  floor  plan 


is  also  shown.  The  house  is  forty  feet  long  and  six- 
teen feet  wide,  with  a  front  shed  and  a  corn  crib  at  the 
back.  The  cook  room  is  twelve  by  sixteen  feet.  The 


BIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 


well  is  in  the  shed.  BB  are  doors  the  height  of  the 
partition  and  twenty  inches  wide  hung"  on  hinges.  Par- 
titions are  three  and  one-half  feet  in  height.  DD  are 
doors  between  the  pens  which  slide  up  and  down  as  do 
also  AA  out  into  the  runs.  /v/^are  fenders  made  out  of 
two  by  eight  plank  and  set  ten  inches  from  the  floor  to 
protect  the  little  pigs.  They  should  have  been  shown 
on  all  sides  of  the  pen.  G  G  are  the  runs.  The  end 


P                    rttDiNq  AU.EV 

p        ,«<3s 

r>             f*5        ft              ft 

L         \ 

II          T          If 

I        I      § 

D 

D 

D 

^ 

2 

PEN    ^ 

2 

PtN 

T.H 
f^ 

cook,  noon 

PtN 
1X»0 

q 


PtN 

G 


PLAN- 


fence  is  permanent  and  has  gates  in  it  at  KK.  The 
side  fences  have  a  driveway  in  each  and  the  interior 
fences  are  all  movable.  The  house  is  seven  feet  high 
in  the  clear  over  the  pen  and  ten  feet  over  the  cook 
room.  The  loft  over  the  pens  is  used  for  bedding,  which 
is  let  down  into  each  pen  by  a  little  opening  in  the 
floor  above.  The  loft  is  reached  by  a  ladder.  The 
loft  over  the  cook  room  is  divided  into  two  bins.  The 


THE    PIGGERY.  53 

grain  descends  through  the  feed  .chute.  There  is  a 
door  P  between  the  cook  room  and  shed.  The  corn 
crib  is  three  feet  at  the  bottom  and  four  at  the  top. 
The  slats  on  the  outside  run  up  and  down.  The  open- 
ing into  the  alleyway  is  a  sliding  door.  As  shown 
here  the  house  has  four  pens,  but  it  can  be  continued 
on  the  same  general  plan  until  it  has  twenty.  This 
pen  is  double  boarded  with  wide  boards  and  heavy 
building  paper  in  between.  The  flue  for  the  stove  is 
shown  in  the  cooking  room. 

The  piggery  of  a  Brattleboro,  Vermont,  institution 
which  cost  $8000  is  here  shown.     There  are  forty  pens 


A   MODKL  PIGGKRY. 


in  all,  twenty  on  each  side  of  a  central  alleyway.  The 
pens  are  eight  by  thirteen  feet  with  yards  eight  by 
twelve  feet.  The  entry  is  twelve  and  one-half  feet  wide. 
The  building  is  cemented  throughout.  In  the  building 
at  the  end  are  the  steam  boiler  and  slaughter-house. 
The  building  accommodates  200  pigs.  Six  pens  near- 
est the  steam  boiler  are  heated  by  steam  for  farrowing 
sows.  All  pens  slope  towards  the  yard.  It  has  all  the 
desirable  features,  such  as  sliding  doors  operated  by 
rope  and  pulleys,  ventilation,  swinging  trough  doors  to 
keep  the  pigs  away  while  the  food  is  being  put  in  the 


54  BIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 

troughs,  a  track  through  the  hallway,  etc.  Any  one 
contemplating  building  a  pen  of  this  character  should 
first  see  this  or  similar  buildings. 

The  trough  in  the  model  piggery  should  be  so  man- 
aged that  the  hogs  have  no  access  to  the  trough  into 
which  the  swill  is  being  poured.  This  can  be  managed 
in  several  ways ;  perhaps  the  best  arrangement  is  to 
have  the  swinging  partition,  as  shown  in  the  piggery  on 
page  50.  This  door,  which  extends  the  whole  width  of 
the  trough,  is  hinged  at  the  upper  side,  allowing  it  to 
swing  backward  and  forward  over  the  trough.  A 
heavy  bolt  about  three  feet  long,  with  a  handle  on  the 
upper  end,  drops  down  against  the  inner  side  of  the 
trough  when  the  door  is  pushed  in,  thus  holding  the 
door  in  place  and  keeping  the  pigs  away  from  the  trough 
when  it  is  being  filled.  A  sensible  plan  where  hogs 
crowd  and  push  is  to  provide  the 
trough  with  partitions  so  that  each 
hog  has  a  stall,  as  shown  in  the 
illustration.  When  sows  are  kept 
in  separate  pastures  and  the  num- 
ber is  large,  as  it  sometimes  is  in  the 
hog  raising  districts,  the  manner  of 
getting  the  food  to  them  with  the  least  possible  labor 
is  a  question  worth  considering.  It  is  sometimes  car- 
ried in  buckets,  or  by  a  barrel  provided  with  wheels 
and  handles  which  can  be  wheeled  from  place  to  place 
as  desired. 

The  most  satisfactory  way  in  which  I  have  ever 
conveyed  swill  to  hogs  in  large  quantities  is  with  a 
horse  and  a  low  sled.  If  you  will  try  this  once  I  do  not 
believe  you  will  ever  again  carry  a  bucket  or  wheel  a 


THE    PIGGERY. 


55 


barrel,  especially  if  you  have  any  considerable  number 
of  hogs  to  feed. 

COMFORTS. 

Keep  clean  troughs. 

Hogs  need  clean  quarters  as  much  as  any  domestic  animal. 

A  pig  requires  plenty  of  water  in  its  food  but  not  in  its  bed. 

Never  have  the  chicken  house  over  the  pig  pen  ;  they  want  a 
place  by  themselves. 

Shelter  from  the  hot  sun  in  summer  and  the  cold  in  winter. 
The  best  summer  shelter  is  a  spreading  tree. 

A  little  pains  to  sun-scald  the  troughs,  if  they  get  sour  under 
vill  pay.  If  it  be  damp  and 


the  hogs'  stomachs. 

It  won't  pay  to  have  the  little  pigs 
run  out  into  the  snow  until  they  get 
large  and  the  weather  is  so  warm  that 
the  snow  is  leaving.     There  will  be 
nights  and    mornings  when   the  pen 
doors  must  be  kept  closed  to  hold  the   ^ 
pigs  and  all  the  warmth  in  the  build-   *LL 
ing.    The  swinging  doors,  shown  in   ^ 
the  illustration,   have  been    used   by 
some  and  are  said  to  work  well;  I  have  never  tried  them. 

Provide  the  hogs  with  wallows.     The  wallow  is  the  hog's  bath. 

When  he  plasters  himself  with  mud  he  also  imprisons  lice  and 

other  vermin,  which  he  rids  himself  of  when  he  scratches  himself 

clean  against  a  tree  or  a  fence  stake.     The  hog  will  not  drink  from 

his  wallow  long  after  he  is  provided  with 

*- ~~T;,  pure    water   conveniently  near.      Wallows 

Ji  should  be  drained  frequently  and  quicklime 

J  or  diluted  carbolic  acid  be  thrown  in  them. 
Don't  lean  over  the  fence  to  pour  slop 
into  the  pig's  trough.    The  fighting  pigs  will 


.  gng  pgs  w 

cause  y°u  to  sPin  a  good  part  of  the  slop, 
'  anci  resting  your  weight  on  your  abdomen 
supported  by  a  rail  is  not  a  healthful  position. 
Pass  a  trough  through  the  pen  into  the  other 

trough.  And  if  you  nail  a  board  over  the  top  of  the  first  trough, 
the  pigs  cannot  stop  it  with  their  noses  and  waste  the  slop  when 
it  is  poured  in. 


"JJ 
ft, 

p 
w 


CHAPTER  IX. 


SWILL  TUB  AND  CORN  CRIB. 


A  pig'  does  not  eat  merely  to  live. — Tim's  Martha. 

I  will  now  discuss  feeding, 
which  is  the  most  important  detail 
of  the  business.  Breed  counts  for 
much  and  management  for  more, 
but  feeding  really  determines  the 
profits. 

The  hog  is  an  omnivorous  ani- 
mal, with  an  appetite  for  almost 
everything,  and  with  ability  to  turn  all  kinds  of  food  to 
account.  Besides  that,  the  hog  can  manage  to  live 
under  conditions  of  the  most  abject  misery,  unclean- 
ness  and  neglect.  For  centuries  he  has  been  regarded 
and  treated  as  a  sort  of  scavenger,  and  as  an  animal 
occupying  the  lowest  position  in  the  agricultural 
economy. 

Now,  however,  things  are  changing  for  the  better, 
and  this  despised  farm  laborer  is  likely  to  be  better 
bred,  better  fed  and  better  managed.  It  is  now  known 
that  money  can  be  saved  by  selecting  the  food  set 
before  the  pigs,  rather  than  by  the  old  plan  of  filling 
them  with  an  ill-assorted  compound  of  stuff  passing 
by  the  name  of  swill. 


58  HIGGLE    SWINE    BOOK. 

Another  recent  change  in  public  opinion  on  the 
question  of  swine  and  pork  is  shown  in  the  market 
demand  for  a  lighter  and  leaner  animal  than  was 
formerly  in  vogue.  The  cry  for  lean  meat  is  growing 
louder.  To  my  ears  it  sounds  like  a  demand  for 
better  flavored  and  more  wholesome  pork,  and  it  will 
no  doubt  result  in  a  very  largely  increased  consump- 
tion of  this  excellent  meat — for  pork  is  really  good 
meat  when  not  too  fat. 

In  considering  different  feeding  stuffs  for  pigs  the 
item  of  cost  must  ever  come  uppermost,  and  I  cannot 
assume  to  lay  down  any  hard  and  fast  lines.  The 
feeding  of  whole  grain,  for  instance,  appears  to  me  to 
be  a  very  wasteful  one.  It  does  not  pay  to  produce 
corn  and  then  carry  it  back  to  the  field  in  the  shape  of 
unbroken  grains  in  the  manure.  It  is  also  true  that 
the  miller's  toll  will  pay  for  a  great  many  lost  grains 
of  corn,  while  if  properly  fed  the  amount  of  corn  in  the 
manure  can  be  kept  down  to  a  low  point.  Other 
stockmen  may  do  as  they  find  best,  but  I  shall  calcu- 
late my  pig  rations  on  the  idea  that  all  the  food  fur- 
nished will  be  digested,  and  not  passed  on  to  the 
manure  pile.  I  find  that  if  pigs  are  given  time  to  chew 
their  corn  properly  they  swallow  but  few  whole  grains. 
It  is  when  they  are  in  a  hurry  that  they  bolt  it  whole. 

The  practice  of  fattening  hogs  on  the  undigested 
corn  left  in  the  manure  of  cattle  is  a  very  general  one, 
and  it  is  not  uncommon  for  pigs  to  find  much  food  in 
pig  manure  itself. 

Scattering  the  corn  is  one  way  of  making  them  take 
more  time  when  eating.  Yet  I  rather  prefer  to  have 
all  grain  ground,  except  when  fattening  hogs  on  corn, 


SWILL    TUB    AND    CORN    CRIB.  59 

The  dairy  wastes  are  all  excellent  hog  foods. 
Skim-milk  heads  the  list,  but  is  often  wasted.  Butter- 
milk is  of  about  the  same  value  as  skim-milk.  Whey 
is  of  less  value,  though  fattening. 

The  wheat  waste  products,  especially  the  mid- 
dlings and  shorts,  are  deservedly  held  in  high  esteem, 
as  they  are  especially  rich  in  muscle-making  elements. 

Linseed  or  flaxseed  meal,  including  both  old  and 
new  process,  is  very  high  in  muscle-forming  ele- 
ments. The  cake  when  ground  and  fed  to  stock 
makes  excellent  food.  It  is  somewhat  laxative  in  its 
effect.  Cottonseed  meal,  on  the  other  hand,  though 
high  in  its  protein  (tissue-forming  elements)  is  con- 
stipating in  effect.  The  approximate  character  and 
values  of  the  more  common  mill  feeds  are  indicated 
by  figures  tabulated  in  another  chapter. 

Corn,  in  its  various  forms,  including  fodder  and 
ensilage,  is  perhaps  the  most  prominent  of  American 
hog  feeds.  It  is  a  grand  thing  in  every  form,  a  price- 
less boon  to  the  agricultural  public,  but  alone  it  is  not 
a  perfect  food  for  swine  or  other  stock.  It  is  highly 
carbonaceous  ;  that  is,  it  is  rich  in  sugar  and  starch, 
and  is  limited  in  its  ability  to  produce  lean  meat,  bone 
or  milk.  Its  function  is  fattening  and  heating.  When 
balanced  with  nitrogenous  foods,  and  supplemented 
by  any  sufficiently  bulky  provender,  it  makes  a  perfect 
food  for  live  stock.  It  will  always  have  a  prominent 
position  in  American  feeding. 

No  better  practice  has  yet  been  suggested  than  a 
hog  diet  consisting  first  of  milk,  then  of  grass  and 
middlings,  and  finally  of  corn.  I  do  not  mean  that 
these  things  should  be  the  sole  diet  of  the  rapidly 


60  BIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 

growing  animal,  but  that  they  may  well  serve  as  a 
model  of  operations.  Milk  is  well  suited  to  building 
up  a  frame-work.  A  little  grain,  like  oats,  will  do 
no  harm.  Grass  is  an  excellent  growing  food,  and 
hogs  will  do  well  on  it,  especially  if  given  a  little 
middlings  and  milk,  either  once  or  twice  a  day. 
Finally,  the  corn  will  add  the  fat  very  rapidly  when 
the  pigs  are  to  be  made  ready  for  market. 

Vegetables  and  roots  are  especially  useful  for 
their  effect  upon  the  digestive  system.  They  are  an 
agreeable  change  in  addition  to  the  regular  food  of 
the  hog,  and  also  serve  to  keep  the  bowels  in  good 
order.  They  have  what  is  termed  a  cooling  effect 
upon  the  blood,  which  is  equivalent  to  saying  that 
they  favor  a  good  action  of  the  liver.  Be  careful  to 
avoid  the  excessive  use  of  any  one  thing. 

It  is  never  a  mistake  to  provide  large  hog  pas- 
tures, or  else  to  plant  crops  like  rye,  clover,  sweet 
corn,  turnips,  etc.,  that  can  be  cut  for  feed.  The 
farmer  can  best  determine  whether  to  carry  the  pro- 
vender to  the  pigs  or  the  pigs  to  the  provender. 

Opinions  differ  in  regard  to  the  value  of  silage 
for  hogs.  There  is  a  vast  difference  in  silage  itself. 
When  the  corn  has  ears  nearly  ripe  the  silage  makes 
pretty  good  hog  food,  if  fed  moderately — say  one  pound 
per  day  to  start  with,  and  three  pounds  or  four  pounds 
per  day  as  a  maximum  amount.  Some  feeders  have 
pushed  the  amount  considerably  higher. 

Turning  hogs  upon  growing  crops,  a  system 
known  as  "hogging  down"  the  crops,  is  wasteful  in 
one  sense  ;  but  if  it  saves  labor,  and  if  the  crops  so 
treated  are  speedily  turned  under  by  the  plow,  it  may 


SWILL   TUB   AND   CORN    CRIB.  6l 

at  times  be  quite  justifiable.  Clover  should  be  cut 
fine  and  steamed  and  meal  mixed  with  it,  for  the  pigs 
to  eat  it  best.  Soaking  in  water  and  mixing  with 
meal  does  very  well.  It  may  be  sprinkled  with  water 
and  meal  dusted  over  it  and  they  will  relish  it.  Hogs 
will  eat  clear  clover  hay  when  cut  in  full  blossom  and 
well  cured. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  about  feeding 
swill  sweet  or  slightly  soured — many  good  feeders 
advocating  that  swill  should  be  mixed  and  allowed  to 
stand  for  about  twelve  hours  before  feeding.  I  have 
studied  the  feeding  problem  as  I  never  studied  any 
other  thing,  and  if  there  is  any  good  reason  founded 
on  facts,  either  from  a  scientific  or  common-sense 
standpoint,  that  goes  to  prove  that  swill  is  rendered 
more  digestible  or  more  nutritious  by  being  allowed 
to  ferment,  I  confess  I  have  failed  to  find  it.  I  give  it 
as  my  belief,  founded  on  actual  experience,  that  swill 
is  not  only  NOT  rendered  more  digestible  or  more 
nutritious  by  fermentation,  but  is  thereby  actually  ren- 
dered less  digestible  and  less  nutritious.  It  is  true 
that  many  feeders  have  succeeded,  and  succeeded  well, 
that  fed  sour  swill,  but  this  by  no  means  proves 
that  they  would  not  have  succeeded  better  had  they 
fed  swill  without  souring.  Then,  by  all  means,  let 
swill  be  fed  sweet. 

A  word  about  the  swill  tub  or  milk  vat :  Let  it  be 
kept  decently  clean  by  at  least  occasional  scrubbings 
and  scaldings.  A  good  plan  is  to  have  two.  While 
one  is  in  use,  let  the  other  be  cleaned  and  stood  in  the 
sun.  It  is  possible  to  have  the  barrel  so  foul  as  to  be 
a  positive  menace  to  the  health  of  the  pigs.  See  to  it. 


62  BIGGLE    SWINE    BOOK. 

Pack  the  swill  barrel  so  that  it  cannot  freeze. 
This  is  easily  done  by  boxing  it  in  roughly  and  pack- 
ing around  it  closely  with  chaff,  leaves,  sawdust  or 
charcoal.  This  packing  should  not  be  less  than  one 
foot  on  all  sides  and  at  the  bottom.  A  heavy  top  box 
and  one  which  can  be  quickly  opened  completes  what 
will  prove  of  great  profit  and  comfort  to  the  swine. 

Keep  a  mixture  of  salt,  ashes  and  charcoal  within 
reach  at  all  times.  Keep  troughs,  quarters  and  food 
clean.  There  is  not  any  reason  why  hogs  should  be 
more  subject  to  disease  than  any  other  farm  animals. 
Filth  is  responsible  for  four-fifths  of  the  "hog  cholera." 


LEAKAGES. 

Put  the  hogs  in  the  old  pasture  and  let  them 
root  up  the  grubs. 

^ — -v  It   costs  but   half  as  much   to   fatten  a  young 

\iv  7*  animal  as  an  old  one. 

'*     4r  Prepare  a  pig  for  the  family  roast  during  the 

first  cold  weather. 

Pigs  large  or  small  can  make  good   use  of  grass  or  clover 
in  a  rack. 

Pigs  farrowed  when  the  sow  is  on  grass  are  always  healthy. 
This  fact  favors  both  green  food  and  exercise. 

Some  farmers  dump  a  load  of  light  woods  earth  into  the  pen 
every  month,  and  think  it  pays.    Better  turn  the  pigs  out. 

We  cannot  gratify  a  hog's  ambition   to  possess  the  whole 
earth,  but  we  can  profitably  give  him  a  portion  of  the  soil. 

Skim-milk  is  by  all  odds  the  best  basis  on  which  to  build  up 

a  balanced  food  for  little  pigs.    It  is  pretty  well  balanced  in  itself. 

Give  plenty  of  pure  water.     Be  careful  that  the  hogs  have 

all  the  water  they  want  at  night.    They  are  apt  to  drink  heavily 

before  going  to  bed. 


CHAPTER  X. 


FEEDING  RATIONS 


First  frame    then  fat.— John  Tucker 

^  The  arithmetic  of  hog  feeding  is 

j^W^  simple,  because  the  food  tables  are 
;-  now  quite  complete  and  easily  ac- 
j  cessible.  All  that  we  need  to  do  is  to 
express  the  best  practice  in  figures, 
and  then  examine  and  study  the  figures,  comparing  our 
methods  writh  the  accepted  standards.  I  often  detect 
myself  in  error. 

The  following  figures  form  a  portion  of  the  well- 
known  feeding  standards  of  \Yolff,  a  German  authority. 
These  tables  are  now  widely  used  in  the  United  States: 

GROWING   FAT  SWINE. 


Total 

Carbohy- 

Fuel 

Age 

Organic 
Matter 

Protein 

drates 
and  Fat 

Value 

Ibs. 

Ibs. 

Ibs. 

(Calories) 

2  to    3  months, 

50  Ibs. 

2.1 

.38 

1.50 

3496 

3  to    5  months, 

100  Ibs. 

3-4 

•50 

2.50 

558o 

5  to    6  months, 

125  Ibs. 

3-9 

•54 

2.96 

6510 

6  to    8  months, 

170  Ibs. 

4.6 

.58 

3-47 

7533 

8  to  12  months, 

250  Ibs. 

5-2 

.62 

4-05 

8686 

Growing  animals  must  have  a  certain  proportion 
of  nitrogenous  food  (protein)  to  carbonaceous  food 
(carbohydrates  and  fat).  Otherwise  there  is  a  waste 


64  HIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

of  food  and  a  waste  of  money.  The  term  nutritive 
ratio  is  used  to  express  the  proper  proportion. 

In  the  German  tables  here  given  the  nutritive  ratio 
will  be  found  simply  by  dividing  the  amount  of  pro- 
tein into  the  amount  of  carbohydrates  and  fat,  as  the 
carbohydrates  and  fat  are  not  stated  separately,  as  is 
usually  the  case.  The  nutritive  ratio  in  the  case  of 
pigs  two  to  three  months  old,  in  the  German  tables, 
is  about  as  one  to  four,  and  would  be  written  i  14. 
In  the  case  of  pigs  three  to  five  months  old  it  is  just 
1:5.  In  the  case  of  pigs  eight  to  twelve  months  old  it 
is  one  to  six  and  one-half,  and  would  be  written  i :  6.5. 

This  all  means  that  the  proportion  of  nitrogenous 
food  (protein)  should  rapidly  decrease  as  the  pig 
grows  older.  At  first  a  large  proportion  of  protein  is 
needed  for  building  up  the  frame-work  and  the  mus- 
cles, but  later  the  food  should  be  more  of  the  nature 
of  sugar  and  starch  (carbohydrates),  with  less  protein. 
Expressed  in  other  words,  the  young  pig  needs  milk, 
wheat  middlings  and  clover,  while  the  adult  needs  corn. 

In  tables  where  the  carbohydrates  and  fat  are  given 
in  separate  columns  it  is  necessary  to  multiply  the  fat 
by  2#,  add  to  carbohydrates,  and  divide  by  protein. 
This  is  because  fat  is  2#  times  as  potent  as  starch  and 
sugar  in  heat-making  and  fat-producing  effects. 

That  is  the  whole  story  about  nutritive  ratio.  It  is 
simple  enough.  And  yet  nothing  in  the  whole  science 
of  feeding  live  stock  is  more  important  than  a  just 
comprehension  of  food  effects  upon  the  animal  system. 

Yet  I  must  frankly  say  that  while  the  theory  of 
nutritive  ratio  is  simple  enough,  we  are  still  a  long 
distance  away  from  exact  and  final  knowledge  in  the 


FEEDING    RATIONS. 


art  of  feeding  and  fattening  swine.  These  animals  are 
so  nearly  omnivorous,  and  so  well  adapted  to  all 
kinds  of  treatment,  that  they  sometimes  achieve  re- 
sults apparently  out  of  theoretical  bounds.  They  have 
frequently  been  known  to  live  and  apparently  thrive  on 
both  excessively  narrow  and  excessively  wide  rations, 
but  best  results  never  follow  unscientific  practices. 

A  narrow  ratio  is  where  the  carbohydrates  ( sugars 
and  starches)  are  decreased,  and  a  wide  ratio  is  where 
they  are  increased,  as  compared  to  the  normal  amount 
or  proportion  of  protein.  Skim-milk  and  cottonseed 
meal  are  illustrations  of  narrow  ratios,  and  corn  and 
silage  of  wide  ratios.  The  term  nutritive  ratio  may  be 
just  as  properly  used  in  connection  with  a  single 
article  of  food  as  with  a  food  compounded  of  several 
ingredients  : 

ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  NARROW  AND  WIDE  RATIOS. 


Protein 

Ibs. 

Carbohy- 
drates 

Ibs. 

Fat 
Ibs. 

Nutritive 
Ratio 

Skim-milk  .... 
Cottonseed  meal  . 
Corn 

2.94 
37.01 

7  Q2 

5-24 
16.52 
66  69 

.29 

12.58 
4  28 

i  :  2 
i  :i.2 
T  •  Q  c 

Corn  silage  .... 

.56 

11.79 

•65 

I  :  23-5 

Of  course  the  same  feeding  stuff  will  vary,  partic- 
ularly such  a  thing  as  silage.  The  development  of  the 
ears  would  make  it  a  more  valuable  food  than  when 
cut  in  an  immature  state.  Skim-milk  varies  widely  in 
composition,  as  every  farmer  well  knows. 

It  is  folly  on  the  one  hand  to  feed  nothing  but 
skim-milk,  with  its  narrow  ratio  of  i  :  2,  or  nothing  but 


66  HIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

corn,  with  its  wide  ratio  of  i  :  10  or  1:12.  Very 
young  pigs  need  the  narrow  ratio,  to  build  up  a  frame- 
work, and  matured  pigs  may  safely  be  finished  on 
corn  ;  but  the  most  rapid  growth  for  shotes  will  evi- 
dently be  made  on  ratios  varying  from  i  :  4  up  to  i  :  6. 

It  is  another  matter,  even  with  this  knowledge,  to 
maintain  a  perfect  balance  when  so  much  promiscuous 
food  is  fed  to  the  hogs,  and  this  is  \vhere  experience 
and  good  judgment  count  for  so  much.  But  the 
farmer  who  grasps  the  theory  of  the  balanced  ration  is 
certain  in  the  long  run  to  make  cheaper  and  better 
pork  than  his  less  intelligent  neighbor  who  depends 
solely  on  experience  or  perhaps  on  the  advice  of  some- 
body even  less  competent  than  himself. 

It  is  quite  possible  to  have  well-fed  pigs  grow  at 
the  average  rate  of  a  pound  per  day  from  birth  to  the 
age  of  six  or  eight  months.  Governor  Hoard  is  quoted 
as  saying  that  the  pig  is  at  the  pinnacle  of  profit  at  fifty 
pounds  or  near  that  point,  invariably  ;  and  that  each  ad- 
ditional pound  is  slightly  more  expensive  than  its  prede- 
cessor. Certain  it  is  that  young  animals  are  more 
profitably  fed  than  old  ones,  and  that  there  is  a  point 
where  feeding  wholly  ceases  to  pay.  It  is  also  true 
that  the  better  the  care  the  better  the  growth,  and  the 
less  the  cost  of  production. 

The  division  of  labor,  which  constantly  increases 
with  civilization  and  with  improved  transportation  fa- 
cilities, is  apparent  in  the  swine  business  as  well  as  in 
all  other  industries.  Formerly  it  was  the  custom  in  my 
community  to  breed  as  well  as  to  raise  pigs,  but  now  I 
perceive  that  many  of  my  neighbors  buy  more  pigs 
than  they  raise.  The  pigs  come  as  shotes  weighing  fifty 


FEEDING   RATIONS.  67 

to  ioo  pounds,  remain  a  few  months  and  go  to  the  mar- 
ket weighing  about  200  pounds.  Meanwhile  they  have 
had  skim-milk  and  some  grain,  mostly  home  produc- 
tions. They  leave  some  net  cash  behind  them,  of 
course.  I  suppose  this  merely  means  that  it  is  cheaper 
to  carry  the  pig  to  the  feed  than  the  feed  to  the  pig,  for 
I  live  in  a  dairy  district,  and  skim-milk  is  a  by-product. 

I  like  the  sentiment  of  Prof.  Thomas  Shaw,  of 
Minnesota,  when  he  says  that  corn  is  to  be  fed  all  the 
way  from  the  weaning  period  with  ' '  prudent  modera- 
tion." Of  course  at  the  last  it  may  be  given  with 
freedom,  but  as  referring  to  the  whole  life  of  the  hog 
it  should  not  constitute  as  much  as  a  half  of  the  food. 
Corn  is  a  grand  food,  but  in  the  pig's  middle  life  the 
ration  must  be  carefully  balanced  and  kept  from  get- 
ting too  wide. 

A  good  substitute  for  milk  is  a  mess  made  of  mid- 
dlings and  bran  in  water — two  parts  of  middlings  and 
one  of  bran.  The  middlings  contain  some  flour,  and 
the  mixture  is  greatly  relished  by  the  hogs.  The  nu- 
tritive ratio  is  about  i  14.5.  The  amount  given  must 
depend  upon  the  good  judgment  of  the  feeder.  It  is 
well  to  soak  .the  middlings  and  bran  some  hours  before 
feeding ;  and  corn  may  be  added  if  it  is  desired  to 
make  a  fatting  as  well  as  a  growing  ration. 

In  his  new  book  on  Feeds  and  Feeding,  Prof. 
W.  A.  Henry,  of  Wisconsin,  reduces  various  foods  to 
what  is  called  a  grain  basis.  For  instance,  six  pounds 
of  skim-milk,  twelve  pounds  of  whey,  etc.,  are  con- 
sidered equal  to  one  pound  of  grain.  To  make  ioo 
pounds  of  pork  it  requires  293  pounds  of  grain  with 
young  pigs  as  compared  to  over  500  pounds  of  grain 


68  HIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 

with  pigs  weighing  upwards  of  300  pounds.  Prof. 
Henry's  tables  emphasize  the  profit  of  feeding  young 
stock. 


BALANCES. 

Hogs  are  very  fond  of  sugar  beets. 

No  kind  of  food  is  good  in  excess. 

It  is  waste  to  overfeed  skim-milk  to  the  pigs. 

Clover  works  nicely  into  a  balanced  ration  for  hogs. 

Study  the  difference  between  a  growing  ration  and  a  fatting 
ration. 

The  hog,  like  man,  is  omnivorous  ;  but  a  balanced  ration  is 
nevertheless  needful. 

Pigs  consume  two  pounds  of  water  with  every  pound  of 
corn — if  they  can  get  the  water. 

Strictly  corn-fed  hogs  are  apt  to  be  dwarfed,  weak  and  too 
fat.  They  are  unbalanced  hogs. 

Vegetables  and  fruits  are  always  acceptable,  especially  in 
connection  with  a  grain  or  milk  diet. 

It  requires  proteins  or  albuminoids  to  make  milk  with  pigs, 
the  same  as  with  cows.  Study  the  tables. 

When  older  pigs  run  with  younger  ones,  they  will  rob  the 
little  fellows.  Put  pigs  nearly  of  an  age  in  the  pasture  or  yard 
together. 

It  is  folly  to  feed  milk  to  a  thirsty  hog  if  thirst  is  the  only 
want  to  be  satisfied.  Water  is  cheaper,  and  wasted  milk  is 
wasted  money. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


RECENT  EXPERIMENTS. 


The  cheapest  kind  of  experience  is  other  people's  experi- 
ence.— Tim. 

To  say  that  it  does  not 
pay  to  cook  food  for  swine  is 
not  to  say  that  the  farmer's 
boiler  has  no  place  in  the 
economy  of  feeding  live 
stock.  It  pays  very  well,  for 
instance,  to  boil  small  or 
I  otherwise  waste  potatoes  in 
A  GOOD  POLAND  CHINA.  water  with  bran  or  middlings 
for  the  pigs,  and  to  cook  a  hot  mess  for  them  occasion- 
ally, if  only  for  variety  ;  but  unless  the  heat  can  be 
furnished  very  cheaply  it  will  not  pay  to  pursue  the 
practice  regularly.  The  Pennsylvania  Department  of 
Agriculture  does  not  "  know  of  one  of  the  many  experi- 
ments in  this  direction  which  has  been  continued  any 
great  length  of  time." 

A  recent  winter  experiment  at  the  Indiana  station 
in  feeding  whole  corn  and  whole  wheat  in  connection 
with  ten  to  twelve  pounds  of  separator  skim-milk  daily 
is  of  interest.  The  experiment  was  conducted  with 
four  lots  of  Chester  White  pigs,  of  the  same  age,  for  105 
days.  The  pigs  were  fed  grain  morning  and  night, 
and  milk  at  noon.  Those  receiving  whole  corn  gained 
1.16  pounds  per  day,  and  it  required  3.25  pounds  of 


70  HIGGLE    SWINE    BOOK. 

corn  (with  the  milk)  to  make  a  pound  of  pork.  Those 
receiving  wheat  gained  1.02  pounds  per  day,  and  it  re- 
quired 3.67  pounds  of  wrheat  (with  the  milk)  to  make  a 
pound  of  pork.  It  is  easy  to  figure  out  these  rations 
arithmetically,  and  count  the  cost.  The  pigs  were 
less  than  three  months  old  at  the  beginning  of  the 
experiment. 

As  bearing  upon  the  question  of  grinding  corn  or 
feeding  it  whole,  the  Wisconsin  station  found  that  it 
required  459  pounds  of  corn-meal  or  499  pounds  of 
whole  corn  to  make  100  pounds  of  pork.  In  each  case 
some  middlings  were  used,  in  order  to  make  a  better 
ration.  Practical  experience  favors  grinding  the  cob 
and  feeding  it  with  the  corn,  as  compared  to  feeding 
ground  corn  alone. 

Feeding  sheaf  wheat  was  shown  by  the  Oregon  sta- 
tion to  be  less  profitable  than  feeding  the  threshed  grain. 

Pigs  are  very  fond  of  wheat  middlings,  and  the 
Wisconsin  station  proved  economy  in  the  use  of  a 
mixture  of  middlings  and  corn-meal,  as  compared  to 
either  alone.  The  Maine  station  showed  wheat  mid- 
dlings to  be  far  superior  to  wheat  bran  for  pigs. 

The  Alabama  station  found  bran  to  be  an  unsuit- 
able food  for  hogs,  when  used  in  large  amounts. 

The  Wisconsin  station  proved  barley  meal  to  have 
a  high  value  for  feeding  pigs,  but  somewhat  less  than 
corn.  Ground  oats  is  superior  in  feeding  value  to 
whole  oats.  Oats  fed  with  corn  makes  an  excellent 
food  for  pigs. 

In  experiments  with  peas,  at  the  Utah  and  South 
Dakota  stations,  this  food  was  found  to  be  superior  to 
corn.  The  Alabama  station  found  corn  and  cow  peas 


RECENT   EXPERIMENTS.  71 

to  have  about  equal  feeding  values,  with  a  superior 
value  when  combined. 

The  Wisconsin  station  found  a  bushel  of  corn  to 
be  worth  four  and  one-half  bushels  of  potatoes,  the 
potatoes  being  cooked  and  fed  with  corn-meal. 

Experiments  at  various  stations,  as  summarized  by 
Prof.  Henry,  of  Wisconsin,  showed  that  615  pounds  of 
roots  would  save  TOO  pounds  of  grain  in  fattening  pigs. 

The  Wisconsin  station  fed  skim-milk  and  corn- 
meal  to  separate  lots  of  pigs,  giving  to  each  lot  all  they 
would  eat ;  also,  to  other  pigs,  skim-milk  and  corn- 
meal  mixed.  As  between  skim-milk  fed  alone  and 
corn-meal  fed  alone,  those  fed  on  skim-milk  made 
somewhat  the  larger  gain.  *  '  The  greatest  gain  for  the 
food  eaten  occurred  when  two  pounds  of  meal  was  fed 
with  three  and  one-third  pounds  of  skim-milk."  This 
would  furnish  a  nutritive  ratio  of  i  :  6.9,  and  would 
answer  well  with  pigs  above  100  pounds  in  weight,  to 
quickly  put  them  in  order  for  market. 

Experience  apparently  demonstrates  the  wisdom 
of  feeding  hard-wood  ashes,  ground  bone,  charcoal, 
etc.,  where  the  hog  diet  is  of  necessity  largely  corn. 
Pigs  thus  fed  have  stronger  bones  than  where  they  get 
nothing  except  the  corn.  In  my  own  practice  I  have 
not  made  much  use  of  these  things,  as  my  pigs  always 
have  a  varied  diet. 

The  testimony  of  the  experts  in  regard  to  hog 
rations  is  apparently  contradictory  at  times,  for  one 
day  I  read  of  marked  success  with  a  wide  ratio  and 
next  day  of  almost  equal  success  with  a  very  narrow 
ratio.  Of  course  this  apparent  contradiction  is  because 
all  the  facts  are  not  told.  There  is  no  chance  about  it. 


72  BIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

In  reference  to  the  amount  of  skim-milk  that  can 
be  assimilated  by  a  pig  per  day,  I  quote  pretty  good 
authority  in  saying  that  in  case  of  animals  under  100 
pounds  in  weight  the  amount  under  no  circumstances 
can  exceed  twelve  pounds. 

This  amount  of  milk  would  seem  to  be  enough  for 
any  hog,  even  a  large  one,  on  theoretical  grounds, 
for  in  twelve  pounds  of  skim-milk  there  is  over  a  third 
of  a  pound  of  digestible  protein,  and  protein  constitutes 
only  a  comparatively  small  percentage  of  the  weight 
of  pork.  The  protein  in  a  side  of  pork,  with  lard  and 
other  fats  included,  is  less  than  eight  per  cent. 

It  therefore  appears  that  the  protein  needed  to 
build  up  a  pound  or  a  pound  and  a  half  of  pork,  the 
maximum  growth  of  a  pig  in  a  day,  cannot  be  more 
than  the  digestible  protein  in  twelve  pounds  of  skim- 
milk  :  and  it  is  usual  to  feed  something  in  addition  to 
the  skim-milk,  which  of  course  increases  the  amount 
of  protein  in  the  daily  ration. 

In  this  chapter  I  introduce  analyses  of  a  number 
of  feeding  stuffs,  arranged  in  tabular  form,  for  use  in 
making  up  rations.  Fuller  data  will  be  found  in  all 
the  recent  Yearbooks  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of 
Agriculture.  The  separation  of  the  foods  into  nitro- 
genous and  carbonaceous  groups  is  arbitrary,  and 
merely  offered  for  convenience,  as  there  is  no  sharp 
dividing  line.  Wheat  bran,  middlings  and  shorts,  for 
instance,  though  here  classed  as  nitrogenous  foods, 
are  quite  rich  in  carbonaceous  elements  also.  If  these 
tables  help  emphasize  the  facts  that  skim-milk  is  a 
highly  nitrogenous  food  and  that  corn  is  a  highly  car- 
bonaceous food,  they  will  be  useful. 


RECENT  EXPERIMENTS. 
NITROGENOUS  FOODS. 


73 


In  100  Ibs.  of  Feeding  Stuffs 

Dry 
Matter 
Ibs. 

Protein 
Ibs. 

Carbo- 
hydrates 
Ibs. 

Fat 
Ibs. 

Separator  skim-milk 

Q  4 

2  Qd. 

c  0/1 

2Q 

Set  skim-milk      
Buttermilk                      •   .   •       • 

9-4 

9.6 

3-13 

•y  87 

4.69 

:s3 

i  06 

Wheat  bran          

88  5 

12  OI 

4^   23 

2  87 

\Vheat  middlings 

84  o 

Wheat  shorts                

88  2 

12  22 

A.Q  08 

^  ft-l 

90  8 

28  76 

32  81 

6-°6 

7  06 

Linseed  meal  (n  p  )                   • 

89  8 

27  80 

^6  -26 

2  7^ 

Oatmeal                       

J  T      C-7 

S2  06 

C    Q-7 

Pea  meal        .       

80 

ii-5J 

Io  77 

51  78 

o-y.5 
65 

Gluten  feed  .   .              
Brewers'  grains  (wet)            •   . 

92.2 

24  3 

20.40 
4  oo 

43-75 

Q    77 

8-59 
i  38 

Brewers'  grains  (dry)     .... 

91  I 

14  73 

36'6o 

4  82 

88  4 

11.45 

so  28 

1.96 

Cottonseed  meal               •  • 

91  8 

37  01 

1  6  52 

12  58 

Peanut  meal                .   •   

89  3 

42  94 

22  82 

6  86 

84  7 

6.s8 

35  35 

1.66 

Crimson  clover  hay  
Alfalfa  hay                         .  .       •   . 

91.4 
91  6 

10.49 
10  58 

38.13 
37  33 

1.29 
i  38 

Cow  pea  hay                 .       .... 

§0.3 

10  79 

38.40 

1.51 

Sola  bean  hav 

887 

10  78 

38  72 

i  54 

Red  clover  green 

29  2 

7.  O7 

14  82 

.69 

Alfalfa,  green  .   .              .... 

28.2 

3.89 

ii  20 

.41 

CARBONACEOUS  FOODS. 


Corn-meal 

85  o 

7OI 

gc  2O 

Corn  and  cob  meal  
Ground  corn  and  oats  (eq'l  parts) 
Barley  meal                .       .  .   . 

84.9 
88.1 
88  i 

6.46 

7-39 

7  ^6 

56.28 

61.20 
62  88 

2.87 

3-72 
i  06 

Hominy  chops    ........ 

88  9 

7  45 

cc  2  A 

6  81 

Whey                 
Corn  silage                 .   . 

6.6 
20  9 

.84 
r6 

4-74 

n7Q 

•31 
6c 

Corn  fodder,  field  cured    .... 
Corn  fodder,  green  

57-8 
20  7 

2.48 
I   10 

33.38 
12  08 

I-I5 

37 

Oat  fodder   green 

•77  s 

2  60 

22  66 

i  04 

Rye  fodder  green     .   .   . 

23  4 

2  05 

14  1  1 

44 

Timothy   green      

38  4 

2  28 

23  71 

77 

Kentucky  blue  grass,  green  .   . 
Hungarian  grass,  green  .   .   .    . 
Beets    

34-9 
28  9 
13  o 

3.01 
I.C2 
I  21 

19.83 
I5-63 

8  84 

1 

.05 

Potatoes            .  . 

21   I 

I  27 

T  r   CQ 

Q  ^ 

8l 

z'3? 

6  46 

1  1 

Mangel-wurzels     .   . 

91 

1.03 

5-65 

.11 

74  HIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

Various  stations  have  reported  inability  to  make 
pork  on  pasture  alone  ;  alfalfa  pasture  is  perhaps  an 
exception. 

I  think  that  by  and  by  farmers  will  all  agree  that 
certain  rules  apply  to  young  animals  which  do  not  ap- 
ply to  older  ones,  and  that  summer  treatment  must  be 
different  from  winter  treatment,  and  that  the  whole 
matter  may  be  expressed  as  follows  :  Nitrogenous 
foods,  like  skim-milk  or  middlings,  for  all  young  pigs, 
both  winter  and  summer ;  carbonaceous  foods,  like 
corn,  etc.,  for  all  animals,  at  all  seasons ;  sparingly  in 
summer  and  liberally  in  winter,  and  to  fattening  ani- 
mals lavishly. 

We  must  work  on  the  scientific  basis  which  the 
nutritive  ratio  so  well  suggests.  Pig-feeding  is  better 
understood  as  the  theory  of  nutritive  ratio  is  better 
comprehended.  To  know  the  needed  ratio  or  propor- 
tion between  protein  and  carbohydrates  in  foods  is  to 
use  foods  economically. 


SLICES  OF  BACON. 

Give  the  boy  a  pig. 

Use  roots  for  hogs.     Successful  stockmen  do  it. 

The  pasture  must  be  made  more  of  a  factor  in  the  swine 
business. 

It  sounds  contradictory,  but  it  is  good  advice  to  fatten  the 
hogs  lean. 

Profit  is  in  keeping  the  pound  cost  of  production  well  below 
the  pound  price  at  selling  time. 

Bran  makes  the  hog  long;  corn-meal  makes  it  broad.  Mid- 
dlings are  a  better  food  than  bran. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  twelve  quarts  of  skim-milk  may  be 
converted  into  one  pound  of  young  pork. 

At  fattening  time  a  daily  bundle  of  clover  with  the  corn-meal 
will  aid  digestion  and  improve  the  pork.  Let  the  pigs  grunt,  but 
never  let  them  squeal. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


AN  EASTERN  CREAMER YMAN'S  WAY. 


There  is  nothing  more  convincing  than  success,  but  even  suc- 
cess can  sometimes  be  improved  ^lpon. — John  Tucker. 

Here  is  experience;  actual 
practice  as  reported  by  a  Penn- 
sylvania   creameryman.       He 
buys  pigs  weighing  about  100 
pounds  each,  keeps  them  sixty 
to  ninety  days,  and  sells  them 
weighing    nearly    200    pounds 
'each,  on  the  average. 
The  food  given  them  is  twenty-four  pounds  of  sour 
skim-milk  and  six  pounds  of  hominy  chops  per  head 
per  day.     The  cost  of  the  food,  which  of  course  varies 
from  season  to  season,  is  four  to  five  cents  per  day. 

The  gain  of  weight  per  animal  averages  nearly  or 
quite  one  and  one-half  pounds  per  day. 

This  looks  like  success  ;  and  the  creameryman 
says  the  profits  have  been  satisfactory. 

When  sour  skim-milk  can  be  purchased  at  five 
cents  per  100  pounds  and  hominy  chops  at  f  10  per  ton, 
the  daily  cost  of  the  ration  will  be  four  and  one-quarter 
cents.  And  if  pork  can  be  thus  made  at  the  rate  of 
one  and  one-half  pounds  per  day,  worth  five  cents  per 
pound,  the  daily  gain  will  be  seven  and  one-half  cents, 
leaving  a  daily  net  profit  of  three  and  one-quarter  cents. 
With  125  pigs  this  would  mean  a  daily  net  profit  of 


76 


BIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 


$4.06.  To  this  must  be  added  the  value  of  the  manure, 
and  from  it  must  be  deducted  the  cost  of  the  labor  and 
the  item  of  interest  on  the  money  invested.  Some  al- 
lowance should  also  be  made  for  accidents  and  losses  ; 
but  the  above  figures  are  quoted  as  actual  results  and 
are  presumably  correct. 

In  the  case  under  consideration  the  pigs  (125  in 
number)  were  bought  in  April  and  sold  in  June  and  July. 

THE  ANALYSIS  OF  Two  FOODS  is  AS  FOLLOWS,  THE  FIGURES 
SHOWING  DIGESTIBLE  FOOD  INGREDIENTS  PER  100  LBS.  : 


Dry 
Matter 

Protein 
Ibs 

Carbohy- 
drates 

Fat 

IHc 

Fuel 
Value 

Ibs. 

Ibs.       1 

(Calories) 

Skim-milk    .... 

94 

2.94 

5-24 

.29 

16,439 

Hominy  chops  .   . 

88.9 

7-45 

55-24 

6.81 

145,345 

Skim-milk  varies  somewhat  in  composition.  The 
above  figures  refer  to  separator  milk. 

Hominy  chops,  meal  or  feed  results  from  the 
manufacture  of  hominy,  and  contains  the  germ  and 
coarse  parts  of  the  corn  grain.  It  is  quite  a  different 
food,  with  much  narrower  nutritive  ratio  than  corn- 
meal,  on  account  of  the  removal  of  the  starch  in  the 
form  of  hominy. 

A  ration  made  of  skim-milk  and  hominy  chops,  as 
described,  would  be  expressed  in  figures  as  follows  : 


Dry 

Matter 
Ibs. 

Protein 
Ibs. 

Carbohy- 
drates 
Ibs. 

Fat 
Ibs. 

Fuel 
Value 

(Calories) 

24  Ibs.  skim-milk 
6  Ibs.  hominy  chops 

2.26 
5-33 

% 

1.26 

3-3i 

.07 
.41 

3,945 
8,721 

Total 

7-59 

1.16 

4-57 

.48 

12,666 

AN   EASTERN    CREAMERYMAN'S   WAY.  77 

Calculating  the  nutritive  ratio  in  the  usual  manner 
(multiplying  fat  by  two  and  one-quarter,  adding  to  car- 
bohydrates, and  dividing  by  the  protein )  we  find  that  it 
is  rather  narrower  than  i  :  5,  which  is  nearly  correct. 
This  is  a  well-balanced  ratio  for  the  pigs  when  first 
purchased,  but  is  too  narrow  for  the  animals  when  fat, 
as  will  be  seen  by  comparison  with  the  best  feeding 
standards,  as  explained  in  Chapter  X. 

Assuming  that  no  mistakes  have  been  made  in  the 
above  figures,  either  in  quoting  the  practice  of  the 
creameryman  or  in  the  deductions  which  I  have 
drawn,  the  question  still  remains,  "  Would  there  not 
have  been  an  equal  gain  in  weight  on  a  smaller  amount 
of  food,  especially  if  the  pigs  were  pastured  or  given 
some  bulky  ration  ?  " 

The  German  tables,  in  the  case  of  i7o-pound  hogs, 
call  for  only  5.2  pounds  of  organic  matter,  while  this 
feeder  gives  his  pigs  7.59  pounds  of  organic  matter. 
This  looks  like  a  waste  of  food,  and  if  it  is  a  waste  of 
food  it  is  a  waste  of  money. 

A  careful  trial  would  soon  settle  the  matter,  and 
when  I  attempt  to  follow  this  man's  plan  I  shall  de- 
crease both  the  skim-milk  and  the  hominy  chops,  or 
perhaps  only  the  former. 

A  daily  allowance  of  twelve  pounds  of  skim-milk 
and  six  pounds  of  hominy  chops  would  have  a  nutritive 
ratio  of  about  one  to  six,  a  good  ratio  at  the  finish. 

If  the  skim-milk  were  reduced  one-half  in  the  latter 
weeks  of  the  fattening  operation  there  would  still  be  an 
abundance  of  dry  matter,  protein  and  fuel  value  to  meet 
the  full  requirements  of  the  German  tables.  It  would 
stand  this  way : 


BIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 


Dry 

Matter 
Ibs. 

Protein 
Ibs. 

Carbohy- 
drates 

Ibs. 

Fat 
Ibs. 

Fuel 
Value 

(Calories) 

12  Ibs.  skim-milk  .   . 
6  Ibs.  hominy  chops 

1.13 

5-33 

•35 
•45 

•63 
3-3i 

•035 
.410 

i,972 
8,721 

Total 

6.46 

.80 

3-94 

•445 

10,693 

Demanded   by  Ger- 
man standard  for 

pigs  weighing  250 
pounds  .... 

5.20 

.62 

4-05 

8,686 

In  the  German  tables  the  carbohydrates  and  fats 
are  grouped  together  as  4.05  pounds.  The  sum  of  3.94 
pounds  of  carbohydrates  and  .445  pound  of  fat,  ex- 
pressed in  the  same  way  (with  fat  multiplied  by  two 
and  one-quarter  and  added  to  carbohydrates),  would 
be  4.94  pounds. 

I  do  not  mean  to  advocate  a  reduction  in  the 
amount  of  food  as  the  pigs  get  older,  when  I  suggest 
that  the  skim-milk  should  be  cut  down,  but  only  to 
point  out  that  some  less  nitrogenous  stuff  might  be  used 
in  its  place  ;  some  cheap  green  fodder  or  corn,  for  in- 
stance. Every  fraction  of  a  cent  saved  in  the  daily  cost 
of  food  is  of  great  consequence. 


NIMBLE  SIXPENCES. 

Skim-milk  is  too  valuable  to  be  wasted. 

Quickly  grown  hogs  are  by  all  odds  the  most  profitable. 

Methods  and  feeds  must  vary  with  locality,  but  the  principles 
of  nutrition  are  the  same  in  Maine  and  in  California. 

If  I  were  that  Eastern  creameryman  I  should  just  go  right 
on  making  money  as  heretofore.  But  I  should  put  a  little  bunch 
of  shotes  in  a  sep'arate  enclosure,  and  test  the  German  tables. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
WESTERN  PRACTICES. 


1  There  is  a  tax  on  the  dog  but  none  on  the  sow." 

Methods  in  the  West  differ  somewhat 
as  to  circumstances  and  surroundings. 
The  plan  pursued  by  the  great  masses  of 
western  farmers  is  to  have  the  pigs  far- 
rowed in  March  or  April ;  feed  both  sows 
and  litters  together  till  weaning  time. 
During  this  time,  both  sow  and  litter  have 
free  access  to  a  clover  pasture,  if  possible, 
or  in  the  absence  of  clover,  blue  grass 
pasture  will  answer  very  well.  At  weaning  time  the 
sows  are  taken  away  and  the  pigs  are  left  in  their  accus- 
tomed quarters,  and  if  they  have  been  taught  to  eat 
corn  and  other  kinds  of  feed,  they  will  scarcely  notice 
the  absence  of  the  sow,  and  will  continue  to  thrive. 

They  are  now  fed  liberally  on  corn  and  allowed 
the  run  of  the  pasture  as  before.  The  more  careful  and 
progressive  farmers  feed  slops  made  from  middlings, 
but  by  far  the  greater  number,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  feed 
nothing  but  corn  and  grass.  This  does  very  well  as 
long  as  the  corn  lasts,  but  when  the  fall  and  winter 
season  comes  on  and  the  hog  is  compelled  to  subsist 
entirely  on  corn,  it  is  no  great  wonder  he  fails  to  make 
the  return  for  the  feed  consumed  that  he  should.  I 


8o  HIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 

believe  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  some  substi- 
tute for  grass  will  be  furnished  the  hog  in  autumn  and . 
winter  as  well  as  the  cow. 

Pigs  farrowed  in  March  or  April  should  go  to 
market  about  Christmas,  weighing  from  275  to  300 
pounds.  Some  may  say  this  is  too  large  a  gain  for  the 
time,  but  it  is  not  larger  than  has  been  made  in  hun- 
dreds of  instances  and  can  be  made  by  any  careful 
feeder,  with  the  right  kind  of  stock  to  begin  with. 
This  cannot  be  done  with  scrub  stock  and  slipshod 
methods,  but  it  can  be  done  with  well-bred  stock  and 
careful  feeding  ;  in  fact,  I  have  known  these  figures  to 
be  exceeded  in  many  cases. 

Another  and  somewhat  out  of  date  method,  which 
is  not  wholly  without  its  advantages,  is  to  have  the 
pigs  farrowed  in  April,  May  or  June.  Allow  both  sow 
and  litter  the  run  of  a  large  pasture  (the  larger  the  bet- 
ter) and  feed  but  little  grain.  This  compels  them  to 
take  abundant  exercise,  and  beyond  question  pro- 
duces a  hog  of  greater  constitutional  vigor  than  can 
possibly  be  produced  under  the  forcing  system.  A  west- 
ern friend,  who  is  an  excellent  authority,  says:  "In  an 
experience  covering  a  period  of  thirty  years,  I  never 
had  cholera  on  my  farm,  and  I  raised  and  fed  annually 
from  three  to  five  hundred  head.  I  then  changed  to 
the  forcing  system,  and  the  result  was  I  had  cholera  in 
less  than  three  years  after  changing  methods. ' '  Experi- 
ences of  a  like  character  can  be  furnished  without  num- 
ber. And  yet  in  the  face  of  this  it  can  be  shown  that 
cholera  has  swept  off  alike  the  fed  and  the  unfed  hog. 
I  merely  mention  this  as  showing  the  difference  of 
opinion  in  the  manner  of  raising  hogs.  However,  a 


WESTERN    PRACTICES.  8l 

more  healthy  and  vigorous  hog  can  be  produced  under 
this  method  than  under  the  forcing  method. 

Hogs  treated  as  above  are  not  marketed  under 
twenty  or  twenty-four  months  of  age  and  are  fed  off 
weighing  from  450  to  500  pounds  each.  Before  the 
days  of  cottonseed  oil,  this  kind  of  hog  commanded 
a  premium  over  the  light  hog,  but  of  late  they  have 
sold  at  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  cents  per  hundred  less 
than  the  2oo-pound  hog. 

The  third  method  in  vogue  in  the  West  is  that  of 
feeding  hogs  with  or  rather  after  fattening  cattle.  In 


POLAND   CHINA   SOW,  THREE   YEARS  OLD.      A   FAVORITE 
WESTERN   BREED. 

the  good  old  times  of  thirty-five  or  forty  years  ago, 
cattle  were  fed  in  droves  of  from  100  to  200  head,  with 
hogs  to  clean  up  the  waste.  This,  in  my  opinion,  was 
the  most  profitable  manner  in  which  hogs  were  ever 
handled.  The  hogs  were  bought  weighing  from  100  to 
200  pounds  and  allowed  to  clean  up  after  the  cattle  for 
from  three  to  six  months  and  would  make  a  gain  of 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  one  and  one-half  pounds  per  day. 


82  BIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 

From  one  to  two  hogs  were  allowed  to  each  steer,  and 
it  was  generally  conceded  that  the  gain  on  the  cattle 
would  pay  for  the  feed  consumed,  leaving  the  hogs 
clear  profit.  The  opening  up  of  the  vast  ranches  of  the 
West  put  an  end  to  this  plan  of  feeding  on  a  large  scale. 
Of  late  the  business  has  revived  in  a  small  way. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  about  the  bacon 
hog  ;  I  doubt  that  the  bacon  hog  will  ever  gain  much 
favor  in  the  West,  for  the  simple  reason  that  corn  alone 
will  not  produce  the  so-called  bacon  hog.     He  com- 
mands a  higher  price  than  the 
ordinary  hog,  and  he  should, 
as  he  costs  more  to  produce. 
He  has  his  place,  but  his  place 
is  not  in  the  corn  regions  of 
the  West ;  let  him  be  grown 
in  the  northeastern  states  or 
in  Canada,  where  corn  is  more 
costly  and  where  wheat  bran 
ALL  OF  A  SIZE.  middlings   and   other  foods 

adapted  to  the  production  of  this  kind  of  meat  are 
more  nearly  on  an  equality  with  corn  as  to  price. 
Let  each  state  or  locality  produce  the  kind  of  hog  best 
suited  to  the  kind  of  food  most  cheaply  produced  in 
that  locality. 

While  wheat  bran  middlings,  oats  and  other  kinds 
of  feed  have  their  place  in  making  up  the  best  food  for 
hogs,  one  thing  must  never  be  lost  sight  of,  and  that  is 
that  corn  always  has  and  probably  always  will  form  the 
great  bulk  of  the  hog's  ration  in  the  West,  for  the  very 
obvious  reason  that  it  is  more  abundantly  and  cheaply 
grown  than  any  other  of  the  hog  foods.  While  it  is  possi- 


WESTERN    PRACTICES.  83 

ble  to  import  foods  and  feed  them  to  the  hogs  at  a  profit, 
the  most  profitable  hog  farming  comes  from  feeding  the 
kinds  of  feed  produced  in  the  locality  where  you  live. 

The  plan  of  feeding  green  corn  to  hogs  has  been 
more  generally  practised  and  more  generally  con- 
demned by  agricultural  writers  perhaps  than  any  other; 
and  yet  in  the  face  of  all  that  has  been  said  and  writ- 
ten, I  have  never  fed  any  feed,  either  home  grown  or 
imported,  with  as  much  satisfaction  as  I  have  green 
corn.  I  have  never  fed  anything  that  seemed  to  bring 
about  such  a  marked  change  for  the  better.  It  seems 
to  me  that  I  could  notice  a  change  in  less  than  three 
days.  The  hair  begins  to  look  glossy,  the  appetite 
seems  to  improve,  the  whole  appearance  is  changed. 
I  may  not  be  as  skilful  a  feeder  as  others,  but  I  am 
sure  I  have  put  on  as  many  pounds  in  thirty  days  with 
green  corn  as  I  ever  did  in  double  the  time  with  any 
other  kind  of  feed. 

Now  I  am  aware  that  I  am  treading  on  dangerous 
ground,  for  all  the  ills  that  the  hog  is  heir  to  or  has 
been  cursed  with  ( save  possibly  the  rushing  down  the 
hillside  into  the  sea  of  the  five  thousand)  have  been 
attributed  to  the  feeding  of  green  corn.  Many  com- 
paratively able  writers  claim  that  it  is  a  never  failing 
cause  of  hog  cholera.  It  is  true  that  many  hogs  fed  on 
green  corn  have  sickened  and  died  while  being  thus 
fed,  but  this  by  no  means  establishes  the  fact  that  the 
green  corn  was  the  cause  of  the  disease  being  con- 
tracted. I  am  fully  convinced  that  the  only  analogy 
there  is  between  hog  cholera  and  green  corn  is  the 
fact  that  more  hogs  die  at  the  season  when  green  corn 
is  fed  than  at  any  other. 


84  BIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 

But  do  not  allow  an  unskilled  or  careless  person 
to  feed  green  corn.  Let  it  be  commenced  very  mod- 
erately and  very  carefully,  and  the  amount  gradually 
increased  until  the  full  feed  is  reached,  and  I  would 
recommend  that  two  weeks  be  occupied  in  reaching 
the  full  ration.  Green  corn,  fed  as  above  indicated,  is 
as  safe  as  any  feed;  that  it  is  as  economical  I  am  not 
prepared  to  say.  I  am  rather  inclined  to  think  it  is  not. 

To  cook  or  not  to  cook,  to  grind  or  not  to  grind, 
seems  to  be  something  of  a  question;  but  from  all  that 
can  be  gathered  from  the  most  reliable  sources,  possi- 
bly the  preponderance  of  evidence  seems  to  be  in  favor 
of  whole  grain  fed  without  cooking.  Of  course  there 
are  exceptional  cases  where  cooking  or  grinding,  or 
both,  are  admissible,  but  as  a  rule  neither  will  pay  the 
extra  expense.  I  have  known  of  numerous  experi- 
ments where  hogs  fed  on  whole  grain,  uncooked,  act- 
ually made  a  larger  gain  than  when  fed  cooked  grain, 
either  whole  or  ground.  The  practice  of  soaking  corn 
for  about  twenty-four  hours,  especially  for  young  pigs, 
may  be  tolerated,  and  still  I  am  very  strongly  impressed 
with  the  belief  that  young  pigs  will  eat  all  the  corn 
they  should  have  without  soaking. 


AGED  DUROC   JERSEY, 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


WESTERN  PRACTICES—  Continued. 


There  are  two  methods  of 
disposing  of  thoroughbred  hogs 
in  the  West — private  and  public 
sales.  Ten  or  fifteen  years  prior 
to  this  date,  by  far  the  largest  part 
of  the  hogs  were  sold  at  private 
sale,  which  had  some  features  to 
WHICH  ONE  recommend  and  some  to  con- 

WILL  YOU  TAKE?  demn.  On  the  whole,  I  believe 
the  buyer  could  make  a  more  profitable  investment  at 
private  sale,  for  the  reason  that  he  was  more  deliberate 
and  was  not  influenced  by  the  excitement  common  at 
public  sales.  He  had  more  time  to  carefully  examine 
and  had  the  advantage  of  seeing  the  stock  in  its  every- 
day clothes,  so  to  speak. 

There  was  this  disadvantage,  however,  to  the 
buyer.  The  stock  were  often  culled  over  quite  early 
in  the  season,  so  that  to  get  first  choice  he  was  com- 
pelled to  make  his  selections  before  the  pigs  were  fully 
developed,  and  it  often  happened  that  the  pig  which 
seemed  to  be  best  at  the  time  of  making  the  selection 
did  not  develop  into  the  best  animal  later  on.  Then 
the  seller  was  often  put  to  the  necessity  of  entertaining 
many  intending  purchasers  and  sold  his  pigs  one  or 
two  at  a  time,  and  in  this  way  got  his  money  in  small 


86  BIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 

sums,  which  to  some  is  objectionable.  Thus  it  was 
that  the  public  sale  was  finally  inaugurated  and  of  late 
years  has  become  the  most  popular  way  of  disposing 
of  thoroughbred  hogs. 

The  manner  of  holding  a  public  sale  consists  in 
holding  the  entire  crop  of  pigs,  then  to  advertise  and 
sell  them  in  a  single  day.  This  has  many  things  in  its 
favor,  with  some  objections.  Its  advantages  are  that 
all  the  crop  of  pigs  are  held  till  they  are  more  fully  de- 
veloped and  the  buyers  all  have  an  equal  chance  to 
see  and  buy  the  best,  if  they  are  willing  to  pay  the 
price.  The  seller  has  the  advantage  of  selling  all  his 
pigs  in  one  day  and  gets  his  money  in  a  lump.  Then 
he  is  relieved  of  the  necessity  of  keeping  a  boarding 
house,  as  it  were,  for  three  or  four  months. 

Prices  at  some  of  these  sales  have  been  almost  fab- 
ulous. In  some  instances  a  whole  herd  of  from  fifty  to 
sixty  animals  have  been  sold  at  an  average  of  $250  each. 
However,,  it  was  generally  believed  that  there  was  more 
or  less  deception  about  many  of  these  extreme  sales, 
but  many  sales  that  I  have  known  were  perfectly 
straight  and  honest  and  have  averaged  over  $200  each. 
In  such  cases,  the  animals  were  fashionably  bred  and 
exceptionally  fine  individually,  and  were  descended 
from  popular  sires.  These  high  prices,  in  my  opinion, 
have  been  detrimental  to  the  business.  When  any 
strain  of  animals  advance  in  price  to  an  abnormal 
figure,  the  temptation  to  substitute  and  counterfeit  is 
entirely  too  great. 

While  the  great  majority  of  sales  have  been  per- 
fectly honest,  others  have  been  just  as  dishonest  as 
could  be.  Of  late  years  a  few  men  have  been  seeking 


WESTERN    PRACTICES.  87 

to  boom  a  certain  strain  of  hogs  and  have  done  many 
questionable  things  to  carry  their  point,  and  not  a 
little  to  discredit  the  sales  of  honest  men.  Even 
now  there  is  pending  in  the  courts  a  suit  involving 
the  most  gigantic  fraud  that  could  possibly  be  imag- 
ined. What  the  outcome  of  the  suit  will  be  remains 
to  be  seen.  While  the  causes  of  this  suit  seem  to 
be  detrimental  to  the  business,  I  believe  in  the  end 
it  will  work  lasting  good  to  the  business.  In  future 
men  will  scan  as  carefully  the  pedigree  of  the  man  sell- 
ing the  hog  as  they  do  the  hog  himself.  The  sales  held 
recently  have  demonstrated  several  things.  One  of 
these  is  that  hogs  in  future  are  going  to  sell  for  less 
money  and  will  sell  directly  on 
their  merits.  If  they  have  been 
bred  by  or  have  been  passed 
through  the  hands  of  men  of 
questionable  character,  the  care- 
ful breeder  is  going  to  let  them 
alone.  It  will  not  do  to  say  that 
because  a  few  men  engaged  in 
the  business  have  been  dishonest 
the  business  is  going  to  be  everlastingly  ruined. 

So  long  as  men  eat,  so  long  will  there  be  a  demand 
for  hogs,  and  so  long  as  the  demand  for  hogs  continues, 
so  long  will  they  be  bred.  So  long  as  hogs  are  bred, 
so  long  will  there  be  a  demand  for  choice  breeding 
stock.  The  time  is  here  when  the  boomer  and  the  dis- 
honest breeder  must  go,  and  when  that  is  accomplished 
the  honest  breeder  will  enjoy  such  a  period  of  pros- 
perity as  he  has  not  seen  in  many  years.  The  public 
sale  will  continue,  but  on  a  modified  and  more  common- 


88 


BIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 


sense  basis.  The  indiscriminate  credit  system  must 
go.  Both  buyer  and  seller  will  do  business  in  a  busi- 
ness-like manner.  Men  will  get  credit  if  they  are  en- 
titled to  it,  but  men  that  could  not  buy  a  sack  of  flour 
on  credit  of  their  home  grocer  will  not  be  able  to  buy 
hundreds  of  dollars  worth  of  hogs  in  the  future  as  they 
have  in  the  past.  These,  with  many  other  reforms, 
will  be  made,  and  in  future  I  look  for  the  public  sale  to 
be  as  it  has  been  in  the  past,  the  favorite  method  of 
disposing  of  thoroughbred  hogs  throughout  the  West. 


A   FAMOUS   BERKSHIRE. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


BUTCHERING  AND  CURING  MEATS. 

A  use  for  every  product  and  every  product  to  its  best  use. 
—Tim's  Martha. 

Agriculture  is  subject  to  the  same 
economic  conditions  that  have  so  pro- 
foundly affected  other  industrial  pursuits, 
and  on  farm  as  well  as  in  factory  there  is 
a  marked  tendency  toward  a  further  and 
further  division  of  labor.  Applying  the  principle  to 
pork  production,  for  instance,  it  practically  costs  but 
little  more  to  kill,  dress  and  prepare  for  market  a 
thousand  hogs  than  a  hundred  hogs,  and  hence  great 
butchering  and  packing  establishments  have  grown  up 
in  all  the  principal  cities  and  railroad  towns  of  the  coun- 
try, and  the  business  is  becoming  centralized.  In  some 
parts  of  the  United  States  home  butchering  will  alto- 
gether cease,  I  suppose,  but  the  farm  will  ever  retain 
a  great  deal  of  individuality,  and  in  all  districts  remote 
from  abattoirs  the  work  will  be  done  by  individuals,  as 
heretofore,  for  years  to  come. 

A  merciful  act  at  slaughtering  time  is  to  stun  the 
victim  with  a  blow  in  the  forehead  before  bleeding.  It 
facilitates  sticking.  To  get  the  opportunity  for  such  a 
blow,  the  animal  must  be  run  into  a  pen  or  chute  made 
for  the  purpose.  As  soon  as  he  drops  or  is  thrown  he 


90  BIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

must  be  turned  on  his  back.  One  person  holds  the 
hind  legs,  another,  astride  of  his  body,  holds  his  fore 
legs,  pressing  them  backward.  The  sticker,  standing 
in  front,  presses  back  his  snout  with  the  left  hand  and 
with  the  right  thrusts  in  the  knife,  aiming  for  the  trail. 
The  knife  should  have  a  blade  six  or  seven  inches  long, 
and  a  keen  edge  at  the  point.  Before  making  the  fatal 
thrust,  cut  a  slit  two  or  three  inches  long  just  in  front 
of  the  shoulders,  and  in  withdrawing  make  a  slight  cut 
upward  to  give  free  vent  to  the  blood.  Be  quite  sure 
that  the  animal  is  dead  before  scalding  begins. 

For  one  or  two  small  animals  the  old-fashioned 
barrel  scalder  suffices.  But  for  a  pen  of  hogs  of  any 
considerable  number  or  weight  the  modern  scalder, 
with  fire  box  underneath  and  a  rack  and  windlass  for 
manipulating  the  carcass,  is  indispensable.  In  many 
communities  these  scalders  are  owned  by  the  local 
butcher  or  by  an  individual,  and  are  loaned  to  farmers 
at  a  certain  rate  per  day.  Where  this  is  not  the  case 
several  neighbors  could  well  afford  to  buy  and  use  one 
in  common.  They  are  usually  mounted  on  a  two-wheel 
truck  that  can  be  attached  to  another  vehicle  for  easy 
transportation  from  place  to  place. 

Many  cheap,  home-built  devices  are  available  for 
hoisting  the  hogs  into  the  scalding  tank,  and  for  after- 
wards hanging  them  up,  one  at 
a  time,  on  the  poles  prepared 
for  them.  The  accompany- 
ing illustration  will  explain  it- 
self. If  the  scald  water  is  not 
hot  enough  to  loosen  the  hair  and  bristles,  an  old  and 
good  way  to  increase  the  heat  is  to  drop  hot  stones  into 


BUTCHERING   AND   CURING   MEATS. 


the  water.     A  little  air-slacked  lime  thrown  into  the 
tank  will  start  the  bristles  and  hasten  the  operation. 

To  dress  a  hog  for  market  involves  the  opening  of 
the  animal  along  the  entire  length  of  the  under  side 
and  the  careful  removal  of  the  intestines.  The  oper- 
ation must  be  so  well  done  that  the  final  effect  is 
pleasing  and  cleanly  in  appearance.  The  skin  must  be 
free  from  blood  stains  and  the  meat  without  blemish, 
with  the  fat  portions  as  near  to  ivory  whiteness  as 
possible. 

Here  is  a  simple  device  where  few  hogs  are  butch- 
ered. A  is  a  bolt  pivoting  together  BBB,  three  poles 
of  equal  length.  CC  are  strong  hooks 
on  which  to  hang  the  animal.  Hook  the 
carcass  while  lying  flat,  then  by  pushing 
on  the  other  pole  the  tripod  can  easily  be 
raised  to  an  erect  position.  One  man 
can  hang  a  5oo-pound  hog  in  two  minutes. 

There  are  various  methods  of  cutting  t 
the  carcass.  The  diagram  here  shown 
illustrates  the  manner  of  division  for  mess  pork.  In 
this  case  the  head  is  cut  off  and  the  carcass  split  through 
the  back  bone.  The  hams  are  cut  round  and  shoulders 

square  and  the 
sides  cut  across 
into  strips,  as 
shown.  For 
1  family  use, 
mess  pork  is  at  a  discount  in  these  days.  For  this  rea- 
son it  is  a  common  practice  now  to  make  as  much  as 
possible  of  the  fat  into  lard,  and  leave  only  the  leanest 
cuts  for  pork  and  bacon,  and  to  use  the  trimmings  for 


92  HIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

sausage  and  scrapple  and  other  side  dishes.  The 
division  in  this  case  is  somewhat  different.  The  carcass 
is  split  on  either  side  of  the  spine,  leaving  a  strip  four 
inches  wide.  From  this  the  fat  is  cut  for  lard,  and  the 
lean  meat  and  bone  cut  into  sections  make  toothsome 
roasting  pieces.  The  bacon  is  cut  into  strips  four  or  five 
inches  wide  along  the  belly  on  either  side.  The  thicker 
parts  of  the  sides  are  cut  into  pieces  nearly  square  and 
the  fat  edges  cut  off  and  made  into  lard.  The  shoulder 
is  cut  smaller  than  indicated  in  diagram  and  rounded 
off  more  like  a  ham,  the  trimmings  being  used  for  lard 
and  sausage.  In  trimming  the  hams  be  careful  to  avoid 
cutting  into  and  mutilating  the  natural  membrane 
covering  the  lean  meat.  A  smoothly  trimmed  ham 
looks  better  and  keeps  better  than  one  that  is  rough 
and  haggled. 

It  is  best  as  a  rule  to  leave  the  cutting  operation 
until  the  carcass  is  cooled  through  and  through,  but 
heavy  hogs  will  cool  faster  split  down  the  back,  the 
head  cut  off,  and  the  leaf  lard  partly  separated  from 
the  sides. 

Much  pork  can  be  sold  in  the  winter  season  in  the 
form  of  the  entire  carcass,  in  a  fresh  state.  When  it 
comes  to  salting  down  the  meat  great  care  must  be 
taken  to  have  it  thoroughly  cooled.  It  must  be  en- 
tirely chilled  through  and  through,  but  never  put  away 
frozen.  Do  not  spare  the  salt,  as  the  meat  will  not 
take  it  up  in  excess  of  a  certain  limit.  Pickle  should 
never  be  poured  into  the  swill  barrel  or  where  poultry 
or  any  animal  can  get  it  to  drink  ;  the  surplus  salt  may 
be  spread  over  the  asparagus  bed. 

In  curing  hams  and  shoulders  be  sure  to  fill  in  and 


BUTCHERING   AND    CURING    MEATS.  93 

around  the  bones  with  salt  and  a  little  pepper,  to  keep 
off  the  flies. 

For  sugar-cured  ham  and  bacon  use  six  pounds  of 
coarse  or  packers'  salt,  four  ounces  of  saltpetre  and  from 
four  to  six  pounds  of  brown  sugar  to  each  100  pounds, 
and  enough  water  to  cover  the  meat  when  closely 
packed.  Boiling  and  skimming  the  pickle  helps  to 
clarify  it.  Sprinkle  a  thin  layer  of  salt  on  the  bottom  so 
that  the  meat  will  not  come  into  direct  contact  with  the 
wood. .  Put  the  skin  side  down  and  be  sure  the  whole 
contents  are  covered  with  the  brine. 
At  the  end  of  six  wreeks  take  up 
the  meat  and  smoke  it,  using  corn 
cobs  or  hard  wood  ( green  hickory 
is  best)  ;  smoke  until  it  is  a  light 
brown  or  tan  color.  The  pieces  ,:=  =^^jw>.& 
should  be  sewed  up  in  muslin  bags  '"j'f^jpfj^^ 
and  painted  with  whitewash  with  a 
little  ochre  in  it  for  coloring.  When  prepared  in  this 
way  bacon  can  be  cooked  without  any  freshening  and 
it  will  keep  sweet  for  a  year  or  more.  It  should  be 
stored  in  a  dry  and  cool  place. 

A  few  people  prefer  dry  curing.  This  requires 
the  salt  to  be  fine  and  the  saltpetre  to  be  pulverized. 
The  ingredients  are  used  in  about  the  same  propor- 
tion, mixed  together.  After  the  meat  is  trimmed 
and  cooled  for  thirty-six  or  forty-eight  hours,  place  it 
skin  side  down  on  clean  table  or  boards,  and  rub 
the  mixture  in  thoroughly  with  the  hands.  This 
must  be  repeated  three  or  four  times  in  two  weeks, 
leaving  a  coating  of  the  salt  over  the  surface  each 
time.  Bacon  should  be  piled  in  layers  four  or  five 


94  HIGGLE    SWINE   BOOK. 

deep.  After-treatment  is  the  "same  as  for  that  salted 
in  pickle. 

For  making  mess  or  clear  pickled  pork,  use  fifteen 
pounds  of  salt  to  100  pounds  of  meat. 
Put  a  layer  of  salt  in  bottom  of  barrel 
j  and  pack  on  edge,  as  shown  in  cut, 
sprinkling  salt  between  each  layer. 
]  Keep  the  meat  covered  with  brine. 

If  we  suppose  pork  in  the  carcass  to  be  worth  five 
cents  a  pound,  there  are  many  localities  where  it  would 
pay  well  to  work  it  up  and  sell  it  in  various  forms  at 
higher  figures.  On  a  five-cent  or  seven-cent  basis  for 
the  whole  animal  the  bacon  should  bring  ten  cents, 
lard  ten  cents,  head-cheese  or  scrapple  ten  cents,  spare 
ribs  ten  cents,  sausage  twelve  cents,  shoulders  twelve 
cents  and  hams  fifteen  cents.  Of  course  the  difference 
in  'price  represents  skill  and  labor,  and  it  is  well  to 
convert  skill  and  labor  into  money  in  this  way  when- 
ever possible.  Prices  vary  in  different  localities,  of 
course,  but  it  is  everywhere  true  that  the  prepared  arti- 
cles are  worth  more  per  pound  than  the  whole  carcass. 

When  a  ham  is  half  fat,  and  the  cost  price  is  fifteen 
cents  a  pound,  and  no  one  will  eat  the  fat,  the  ham 
really  costs  thirty  cents  a  pound,  and  this  makes  it  a 
very  expensive  meat.  When  hogs  are  fattened  lean, 
or  with  only  a  reasonable  percentage  of  fat,  the  meat 
is  in  every  way  superior  and  is  in  better  demand  in 
the  market.  The  ideal  hog,  both  as  to  cost  and  to 
please  the  present  market,  is  therefore  about  as  fol- 
lows :  200  pounds,  six  or  ten  months  old,  and 
reasonably  lean. 

To  try  out  or  render  lard  so  as  to  get  the  whitest 


BUTCHERING   AND    CURING   MEATS.  95 

and  firmest  product  it  is  necessary  to  remove  all  flesh, 
membrane  and  blood,  and  cut  it  into  pieces  an  inch  or 
less  in  size  ;  then  heat  a  small  quantity  in  kettle  or 
boiler,  and  afterward  add  more  and  cook  slowly. 
When  the  scraps,  cracknels  or  cracklings  are  crisp, 
and  a  delicate  shade  of  brown,  strain  -the  melted  lard 
through  a  cloth  into  the  vessel  that  is  to  receive  it. 
Afterward  the  scraps  may  be  pressed  and  an  additional 
quantity  of  only  slightly  inferior  lard  obtained.  The 
fat  from  the  internal  organs  and  the  small  miscellaneous 
trimmings  should  be  rendered  separately  and  kept  in 
separate  vessels.  No  water  should  be  used  during  the 
operation  ;  in  fact,  the  purpose  of  rendering  the  lard 
is  partly  to  drive  off  all  the  water. 

Excellent  sausages  may  be  made  of  the  scraps  and 
trimmings  of  fresh  pork  by  using  one-third  fat  and 
two-thirds  lean  meat,  chopped  finely,  and  seasoned 
with  salt,  pepper  and  sage.  The  seasoning  should  be 
evenly  distributed  through  the  scraps  before  they  are 
chopped.  As  sage  is  offensive  to  some  people  it  may 
be  omitted.  A  little  red  pepper  is  often  added.  Tastes 
differ  so  much  that  a  sausage  receipt  cannot  be  given 
that  will  suit  all.  The  meat  grinders  now  in  common 
use  come  handy  for  preparing  sausage  scraps.  For- 
merly the  general  custom  was  to  soak  the  small  intes- 
tines of  the  animal  and  cleanse  by  scraping  thoroughly 
with  a  dull  knife,  and  use  these  as  cases  for  holding  the 
sausage  meat.  The  meat  being  pressed  into  these  by 
a  "  stuffer,"  they  were  twisted  into  links  three  or  four 
inches  long.  The  practice  still  prevails,  but  much  of 
the  meat  is  now  sold  in  rolls  or  lumps,  wrapped  in 
butter  paper  or  corn  husks. 


96  BIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 

Scrapple,  a  pork  preparation  well  known  in  Penn- 
sylvania, New  Jersey  and  elsewhere,  is  made  some- 
what after  the  plan  of  souse  and  head-cheese,  using 
portions  of  the  head,  ears,  feet,  liver,  heart,  and  a  part 
of  the  skin  from  which  the  fat  has  been  cut  for  making 
lard.  Not  more  than  a  fourth  of  the  liver  should  be 
used.  These  scraps  are  put  into  sufficient  water  to 
admit  of  boiling  a  long  time,  at  least  until  all  the  meat 
can  easily  be  pulled  apart  by  the  fingers.  It  should  then 
be  dipped  from  the  liquor  and  run  through  the  cutter. 
When  returned  again  to  the  boiler  it  should  be  thick- 
ened with  finely  ground  corn-meal,  seasoned  to  suit 
the  taste,  and  thoroughly  boiled,  stirring  vigorously  all 
the  while  to  prevent  scorching.  Some  prefer  to  use 
one-fourth  graham  flour  and  three-fourths  corn-meal 
for  thickening.  If  the  meat  contains  too  much  fat  this 
may  be  skimmed  off  before  adding  the  meal.  Enough 
meal  should  be  added  to  make  a  stiff  mush  when  cold. 
Pour  out  while  hot  into  square  tins  not  over  four  inches 
deep.  To  prepare  for  the  table,  cut  in  slices  and  fry 
till  brown. 

Souse,  made  of  scraps,  especially  including  the 
feet,  the  lean  meat  of  the  head,  etc. ,  is  prepared  by 
boiling,  and  then  flavoring  with  salt,  pepper  and  vine- 
gar, whole  spices,  etc.  It  becomes  quite  firm.  It  is 
browned  in  the  oven  for  table  use. 

Head-cheese  is  much  like  souse,  but  the  vinegar 
is  replaced  with  sage,  and  the  fat  is  pressed  out  through 
a  strainer  cloth.  Like  souse,  it  may  be  packed  away 
in  jars  until  needed  for  use.  It  is  made  ready  for  the 
table  by  browning  in  a  frying  pan. 

To  corn  or  pickle  a  small  amount  of  pork  for  family 


BUTCHERING   AND   CURING   MEATS.  97 

use  prepare  a  liquid  as  follows  :  Take  three  gallons 
of  water,  four  and  one-half  pounds  of  salt,  one  pound  of 
brown  sugar  and  one  ounce  of  saltpetre.  Boil  for  half 
an  hour  and  remove  scum.  When  cold  pour  it  over  the 
meat,  and  allow  it  to  stand  for  several  days. 

There  are  many  methods  of  pickling  pork  on  a 
large  scale,  all  depending  on  the  preservative  effects 
of  salt,  sugar,  saltpetre,  etc.  The  sugar  may  be  re- 
placed with  molasses,  and  the  meat  may  be  afterward 
cured  by  drying  or  smoking.  Every  precaution  must 
be  taken  to  guard  against  insect  attacks  while  the 
meat  is  in  a  fresh  or  partly  cured  condition.  Every 
cook  book  gives  a  recipe  for  making  pickle  for  pork, 
and  there  are  as  many  recipes  as  there  are  cook 
books.  I  will  give  but  one  :  To  100  pounds  of  meat 
use  one  pint  of  fine  salt,  four  pounds  of  brown  sugar 
and  three  ounces  of  saltpetre.  Rub  the  meat  thor- 
oughly with  this  mixture,  and  allow  it  to  lie  for  a 
day.  Then  pack  in  barrels,  using  additional  salt 
freely.  Drain  the  liquor  from  the  bottom  of  the  bar- 
rel and  pour  over  the  meat  again.  The  meat  should 
not  rest  upon  the  bottom  of  the  barrel,  but  on  a  frame 
of  some  sort.  After  two  or  three  weeks  of  this  treat- 
ment the  meat  may  be  packed  or  smoked. 

To  prepare  for  smoking  it  is  only  necessary  to 
wash  off  the  brine,  roll  in  bran  (some  people  use  saw- 
dust), and  hang  in  the  smoke-house  for  four  weeks. 
The  house  must  not  be  permitted  to  become  over- 
heated. Good  smoke  is  made  with  hard-wood  chips 
and  sawdust. 

Hams  may  be  packed  in  barrels  or  stored  dry. 
The  latter  is  the  plan  most  in  favor.  One  good  way 


98  HIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 

is  to  cover  the  hams  with  brown  paper,  then  with 
coarse  muslin,  and  then  to  give  a  coat  of  whitewash. 
A  dark  granary  is  an  excellent  storage  place  for  hams. 
I  have  before  me  a  famous  cook  book  which 
makes  the  sweeping  assertion,  at  the  beginning  of  a 
chapter,  that  pork  is  an  unwholesome  meat ;  but  ad- 
mits that  salt  pork,  bacon  and  ham  are  less  objection- 
able than  fresh  pork.  It  must  be  because  so  many 
pigs  are  improperly  fed  and  fattened  that  such  state- 
ments are  penned  and  printed,  or  else  it  is  because 
human  beings  do  not  know  how  to  adapt  their  food  to 
their  requirements.  It  is  no  doubt  just  as  important 
to  have  a  well-balanced  ration  in  case  of  human  food 
as  in  case  of  an  animal's  food,  and  if  man  does  not 
suit  his  food  to  his  habits  of  life  he  must  suffer  for  it. 
Good  pork,  properly  cooked  and  temperately  eaten, 
is  wholesome  enough. 


SCRAPPLE. 

Ham  half  fat  is  too  fat. 

Fatten  is  a  poor  word.     Grow  is  better. 

Wholesome  pork  is  digestible  pork.    Make  it  so. 

Be  merciful  even  toward  a  pig  about  to  be  killed. 

Save  the  bladders.    They  make  air-tight  jar  covers. 

Save  the  bristles  ;  everything  has  some  money  value. 

Head-cheese  or  scrapple  is  an  excellent  food  when  well  made. 

An  unbalanced  ration  means  wasted  money,  and  perhaps  infe- 
rior meat. 

Extra  quality  bacon  and  hams  rank  among  fancy  groceries, 
and  are  ever  in  demand  at  top  prices. 

There  are  laws  in  some  states  against  the  sale  of  boar  pork 
at  current  prices  without  explaining  its  character. 

Wisely  fed  and  fattened,  cleanly,  home-grown  and  home- 
cured  pork  is  a  deal  better  than  the  average  market  product. 
Depend  on  that. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


SMITHFIELD  HAMS  AND  DEERFOOT 
SAUSAGE. 


Not  how  much  but  how  good. — Martha. 

The  celebrated  Smithfield  ham 
is  so  called  from  the  little  town  of 
Smithfield,  about  thirty  miles  from 
Norfolk,  Va.  They  have  been  cured 
there  for  nearly  a  century  and  their 
fame  has  spread  at  home  and  abroad. 
About  30,000  hams  are  now  produced  annually  and 
are  mostly  sold  direct  to  private  families,  some  going 
to  Europe.  They  are  made  from  the  half  wild  "razor- 
back  "  pigs,  which  for  a  portion  of  the  year  run  in 
the  woods,  thereby  giving  to  the  meat  a  gamy  flavor 
not  to  be  obtained  in  any  other  way.  Many  farmers 
are  engaged  in  raising  the  hogs,  but  the  killing  and 
curing  is  in  the  hands  of  a  few  men  in  or  near  Smith- 
field.  Many  attempts  have  been  made  to  "  improve  " 
the  native  breed  of  pigs  by  crossing,  but  in  every  case 
unsuccessfully,  as  it  has  resulted  in  a  coarser  grain 
to  the  meat,  and  the  shape  of  the  ham  is  not  the 
same.  The  native  "razor-backs"  are  thin-sided, 
deep-chested,  with  small  flanks  and  long  sloping  hams. 
They  are  all  colors.  The  sows  run  at  large  in  the 


100  HIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

woods  and  farrow  about  the  middle  of  April.  They 
live  on  the  nuts,  roots  and  berries  they  find  in  the 
woods.  In  the  fall,  after  the  corn,  sweet  potatoes  and 
peanuts  are  gathered,  they  are  turned  into  the  fields 
and  begin  to  pick  up  rapidly  on  what  has  been  left. 
They  are  then  put  in  pens  and  fattened  quickly  by 
giving  them  all  the  corn  they  will  eat  and  pure  water 
to  drink.  They  are  kept  clean  and  are  killed  when  not 
too  fat  nor  too  lean,  weighing  from  125  to  190  pounds. 
They  are  carefully  slaughtered,  the  hams  being  the 
first  consideration.  The  curing  is  as  follows  :  The 
hams  are  first  placed  in  large  trays  of  fine  Liverpool 
salt.  Then  the  flesh  side  is  sprinkled  with  crude  salt- 
petre, using  three  or  four  pounds  to  1000  pounds  of 
ham.  The  whole  surface  is  then  covered  at  once  with 
fine  Liverpool  salt.  The  hams  are  next  placed  in  piles 
not  more  than  three  feet  high,  and  let  stand  for  three 
days.  Each  ham  is  then  resalted  with  fine  salt  and 
piled  again,  one  day  for  each  pound  in  each  ham  ;  a  ten- 
pound  ham  thus  stands  for  ten  days.  At  the  end  of 
this  time  they  are  washed  with  tepid  water  until  the 
hams  are  clean,  and  when  nearly  dry  rubbed  with  fine 
ground  black  pepper.  They  are  then  smoked  slowly 
and  gradually  for  from  thirty  to  forty  days,  using  green 
red  oak  or  hickory.  The  hams  are  then  repeppered  to 
guard  against  vermin  and  are  bagged.  The  average 
weight  per  ham  is  about  ten  pounds.  These  hams  sell 
for  an  average  of  twenty-two  cents  per  pound  at  Smith- 
field.  The  remaining  parts  of  the  hog  are  cured  in  the 
same  way  and  are  largely  consumed  at  home. 

I  believe  there  is  no  reason  why  with  much  the 
same  care  and  close  attention  to  details,  the  same 


SMITHFIELD  HAMS  AND  DEERFOOT  SAUSAGE.      IOI 

results  could  not  be  achieved  in  other  parts  of  the 
South  where  nearly  similar  conditions  exist. 

I  visited  not  long  ago  the  celebrated  Deerfoot 
Farm  at  Southboro,  Mass. ,  whose  hog  products  have  an 
extended  reputation  and  where  they  have  no  trouble  in 
selling  their  hog  products,  and  at  an  advanced  price. 
Here  some  hundreds  are  slaughtered  annually,  and 
between  the  first  of  October  and  April  the  call  for 
more  is  unremitting.  Bacon,  lard  and  sausage  are  the 
only  outputs.  Hams  and  shoulders  find  their  way  to 
market  only  in  this  form.  Why?  "  Because  our  Deer- 
foot  sausage  brings  more  than  any  ham,"  said  the  gen- 
tlemanly foreman.  "You  see  our  links  are  a  trifle 
longer  and  slimmer  than  other  sausage.  It  is  all  made 
after  one  receipt,  also  every  ingredient  being  propor- 
tioned by  weight,  so  every  lot  tastes  the  same  as  that 
eaten  before  by  our  customers.  We  make  it  regularly, 
so  that  it  goes  to  consumers  new  and  fresh.  One  lot 
is  not  too  salty  nor  another  lacking  salt.  As  a  result, 
those  who  eat  Deerfoot  sausage  or  bacon  find  nothing 
else  so  satisfactory." 

The  sausage  is  wrapped  neatly  in  parchment  paper 
and  tied,  always  the  same,  in  one  and  two-pound  pack- 
ages. A  two-pound  package  sells  for  fifty  cents.  The 
bacon  is  sliced  and  packed  in  pasteboard  boxes,  sell- 
ing for  sixty  cents  for  the  two-pound  package.  Upon 
each  wrapper  is  printed  the  name  of  the  farm  and  a 
few  sentences  that  guarantee  the  quality,  both  as  to 
flavor  and  healthfulness.  Young  pigs  only  are  used, 
and  if  any  are  bought, — and  some  are  bought, — the 
producers  being  engaged  in  advance  to  rear  them  for 
Deerfoot  at  an  extra  price,  they  must  be  reared  within 


102 


BIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 


one  day's  ride  of  the  farm  and  strictly  farm  fed,  not 
fed  upon  refuse  from  cities  nor  at  slaughter-houses 
and  breweries. 


A   GOOD   BERKSHIRE — THE   DEERFOOT   KIND. 

The  delicious  meat  of  the  small-boned  Berkshire 
and  Berkshire  grade  is  used.  The  heads,  feet  and  skin 
all  go  to  a  cheaper  market  in  bulk  at  low  price.  Deer- 
foot  bacon  is  all  dry-cured  on  the  English  plan  and 
hung  for  five  days  in  the  smoke  of  hickory  wood  cut 
fresh  every  week  from  the  forests  of  the  farm.  All  lard 
is  rendered  faithfully  and  never  bleached  artificially.  It 
is  placed,  not  in  a  cellar  nor  in  a  cooler,  but  exposed  to 
the  light  in  cases  covered  with  wire  fly  net  and  aired 
thoroughly  while  bleaching. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


MARKET  POINTS. 


The  hog  is  a  machine  for  converting  golden  corn  into  golden 
coin. — John  Tucker. 

In  previous  chapters  I  have  in- 
troduced statements  and  facts  which 
might  have  been  reserved  for  this  talk 
about  markets,  and  shall  here  per- 
haps mention  matters  which  might 
as  well  have  been  treated  elsewhere. 
The  truth  is  that  every  detail  of  the 
art  of  swine  husbandry  is  so  intimately  associated  with 
every  other  detail  that  it  is  quite  impossible  to  consider 
each  separately.  Marketing,  the  final  detail,  may  be 
called  the  sum  total  of  the  other  details. 

The  profit  in  pigs  depends  very  largely  upon  the 
age  at  which  they  are  sold.  The  case  was  put  forcibly 
by  a  trial  in  the  West  some  time  ago,  when  a  cash  ex- 
periment was  made  with  fifty-four  Duroc  Jersey  pigs. 
The  average  birthday  of  these  pigs  was  April  I5th. 
Their  average  weight,  when  weaned  at  two  and  a  half 
months  old,  was  forty-one  pounds. 

At  eight  months  old  their  average  live  weight  was 
210  pounds,  at  a  cost  for  feed  and  labor  of  $  1.62  per  100 
pounds. 

'  At  nine  months  old  and  three  days  their  average 
weight  was  247^  pounds,  at  a  cost  of  $1.80  per  100 
pounds. 


104  HIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 

At  eleven  months  their  average  weight  was  293 
pounds,  at  a  cost  of  $2.00  per  100  pounds. 

Increase  of  weight  was  made  at  a  continued  in- 
crease of  cost  per  pound.  The  pound  cost  in  the  three 
cases  was  1.62  cents,  1.80  cents  and  two  cents.  The 
heaviest  pigs  are  therefore  not  the  most  profitable,  as  I 
have  previously  asserted. 

In  the  above  case  the  growing  pigs  did  not  have 
much  grass  and  clover  in  their  pasture.  A  greater 
abundance  of  green  food  would  perhaps  have  made  a 
slight  change  in  the  figures,  but  the  principle  would 
have  remained  the  same.  The  experiment  is  valuable 
because  conducted  on  a  large  scale. 

The  day  of  profit  in  holding  hogs  for  the  block  until 
eighteen  months  old  is  evidently  past,  never  to  return. 
If  we  had  close  commercial  relations  with  the  Esqui- 
maux we  might  feed  for  fat  alone,  but  our  markets,  both 
domestic  and  foreign,  unquestionably  demand  leaner 
animals  and  a  better  quality  of  pork.  It  is  possible  to 
rear  pigs  so  as  to  have  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  lean 
meat  in  them.  It  depends  principally  on  feed  and  exer- 
cise. If  such  pigs  are  demanded  we  must  furnish  them. 

If  pig  meat  is  to  take  the  place  of  hog  meat,  let  it 
be  so.  With  pigs  as  with  many  other  crops,  there  is 
much  in  knowing  when  to  harvest.  The  animals  must 
not  be  allowed  to  get  too  ripe.  They  must  be  sold 
when  they  will  command  the  most  money. 

I  think  it  is  a  good  plan  to  have  two  lots  of  summer 
pigs  ;  one  lot  to  go  on  the  market  when  the  animals 
weigh  about  100  pounds,  at  a  time  when  pork  is  often 
high,  and  the  other  lot  to  be  sold  later,  say  when  about 
200  pounds  in  weight. 


MARKET   POINTS.  105 

There  is  certainly  an  increasing  demand  for  small 
hams,  from  pigs  less  than  a  year  old,  and  it  is  obviously 
cheaper  to  produce  two  fifteen-pound  hams  than  one 
thirty-pound  ham.  There  is  also  an  increasing  demand 
for  good  bacon. 

In  many  places  there  is  a  call  for  choice  lard,  at 
rates  above  market  prices.  Why  not  supply  such  lard  ? 
Clover-fed  hogs  will  yield  the  product,  and  if  put  up  in 


ESSEX  SOW,  TWO  YEARS  OLD.      ONE  OF  THE  SMALLER  BREEDS. 

pails  holding  from  five  to  twenty-five  pounds,  extra 
prime  lard  will  sell  above  current  rates. 

Many  pork  products,  viewed  from  the  standpoint 
of  a  city  consumer,  are  on  the  border  line  between 
wholesome  and  unwholesome  foods.  Poorly  prepared 
or  over-fat  bacon,  sausage,  scrapple,  head-cheese,  etc., 
are  voted  down,  while  the  same  products  from  leaner 
animals,  if  skilfully  prepared  for  market,  find  ready 
buyers.  The  less  people  dwell  in  the  open  air  the  less 
fat  they  can  digest,  and  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 


106  HIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

city,  town  and  village  people  consume  and  hence  reg- 
ulate the  demand  for  a  very  large  percentage  of  all  the 
pork  sent  to  market  by  American  farmers. 

Ham  is  a  standard  food  in  this  country,  and  is  freely 
eaten  even  by  people  who  proclaim  their  inability  to 
digest  pork.  Choice  hams  are  always  in  demand  at 
the  highest  prices  paid  for  any  portion  of  the  hog's 
carcass. 

In  the  present  condition  of  the  market  I  shall  allow 
none  of  my  hogs  to  get  much  above  200  pounds  in 
weight,  except  for  special  or  temporary  reasons. 

We  are  getting  along  pretty  well,  as  a  people,  in 
learning  how  to  produce  things.  We  are  not  slow  about 
accepting  the  discoveries  of  science,  and  are  ever  ready 
to  harness  nature's  forces  and  put  them  to  work  in  our 
everyday  affairs.  But  the  Government  is  beginning  to 
recognize  that  another  great  national  problem  is  before 
us.  "The  rapid  development  of  the  agricultural  re- 
sources of  the  United  States, ' '  says  the  U.  S.  Yearbook 
for  1896,  "has  resulted  in  an  annual  production  far  in 
excess  of  the  consuming  capacity  of  our  population. 
To  such  a  degree  has  the  surplus  increased  that  its  dis- 
posal is  fast  becoming  a  grave  problem.  The  logical 
solution  lies  in  the  extension  of  our  markets  beyond  the 
sea."  The  same  volume  elsewhere  says  that  these 
conditions  justify  the  Department  of  Agriculture  in 
placing  before  American  farmers  as  many  facts  and 
figures  relative  to  markets  as  it  is  possible  to  obtain. 

My  opinion  is  that  while  farmers  need  in  no  way 
feel  alarmed  by  the  outlook,  they  should  realize  that 
quality  more  than  quantity  will  be  the  determining 
factor  in  pork  prices  and  profits  during  the  next 


MARKET   POINTS.  IOJ 

decade.  The  farmer  must  suit  the  market,  and  fortu- 
nately the  market  calls  for  younger  pork. 

The  Government  tells  us  that  "each  year  limited 
quantities  of  English  bacon  are  shipped  uninspected  to 
New  York  and  Boston  grocers,  who  retail  it  at  high 
figures  to  fastidious  customers.  It  is  considered  a 
luxury  at  some  American  breakfast  tables, "  etc.  The 
same  authority,  our  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  says  that 
American  packers  can  only  obtain  and  hold  English 
and  other  European  bacon  markets  by  specially  pre- 
paring their  meats  to  suit  the  taste  and  demands  of 
those  markets.  Smaller  and  leaner  swine  for  bacon 
purposes  are  called  for  in  nearly  all  foreign  markets. 
And  the  meat  must  be  mildly  cured.  But  in  Mexico 
and  some  of  the  South  and  Central  American  states 
the  heaviest,  fattest  and  thickest  sides  are  required. 

In  the  Yearbook  for  the  following  year,  the  new- 
est one  at  this  writing,  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture 
says  :  "Our  bacon  sells  for  less  money  in  the  English 
market  than  that  of  any  other  country.  The  reason 
for  this  is  found  in  its  over-fatness  and  saltness.  *  *  * 
American  hams  are  held  in  higher  estimation  than 
bacon  and  hold  their  own  in  competition  with  all 
other  countries,  so  that  in  quantities  shipped  and 
in  prices  hams  and  pickled  pork  from  the  United 
States  are  equal  to  the  same  products  from  other 
countries. ' ' 

Great  Britain  takes  five-eighths  of  our  hog  prod- 
uct-exports,  and  pays  the  United  States  over  $50, 000,000 
per  year  for  bacon,  hams,  fresh  and  pickled  pork, 
and  lard.  Her  trade  is  worth  having,  and  the  Ameri- 
can pork  packer  may  well  try  to  please  English 


Io8  BIGGLE  SWINE   BOOK. 

tastes.  Denmark  is  one  of  our  keenest  competitors  in 
the  line  of  bacon. 

But  though  the  foreign  market  is  great,  the  home 
market  for  American  pork  is  many  fold  greater,  and 
it  is  in  the  home  market  that  careful  swine  breeders 
must  look  for  best  returns,  particularly  with  choice 
products,  as  I  have  already  indicated. 

Summing  up  the  whole  situation,  from  the  cash 
standpoint,  it  is  therefore  evident  that  profits  depend 
for  the  most  part  on  economy  of  production.  The 
quality  of  pork  must  be  the  best,  yet  there  can  be  no 
food  wrasted  in  making  it.  Neither  must  any  waste  of 
the  manure  be  permitted,  for  in  many  cases  the  real 
profits  on  the  manure  are  fully  as  large  as  on  the  pork 
itself.  Neither  can  farmers  afford  any  losses  through 
avoidable  sickness  among  the  hogs,  for  disease  is 
excessively  expensive. 

Only  the  best  methods  will  yield  satisfactory  re- 
sults, and  while  I  have  my  own  choice  as  to  breed  of 
swine  I  think  it  is  more  a  question  of  management  than 
breed.  It  will  no  doubt  sound  presumptuous,  but  I 
cannot  withhold  the  opinion  that  many  of  us  are  very 
wasteful  of  skim-milk  and  corn-meal  in  our  ordinary 
feeding  operations,  by  reason  of  our  sluggishness  in 
grasping  the  full  significance  of  the  idea  of  a  properly 
balanced  food  ration.  It  is  in  reduced  cost  that  we 
must  look  for  increased  profit. 

On  various  occasions  I  have  urged  the  selling  of 
farm  products  in  small  packages  in  choice  forms  to 
particular  people,  and  to  learn  the  standing  of  the  pig 
in  really  polite  and  select  society  I  called  the  other 
day  at  a  Chestnut  street  grocery  store.  The  hog  was 


MARKET   POINTS.  109 

there,  but  in  the  form  of  bacon,  ham  and  sausage  ; 
not  as  pork. 

I  found  ham  in  tin  boxes,  packed  in  Chicago, 
weighing  eighteen  ounces  to  the 
box.  The  price  was  twenty-five 
cents.  The  weight  of  the  tin  box 
itself  was  six  ounces,  leaving  twelve 
ounces  of  ham.  The  consumer 
therefore  pays  a  little  over  two 
cents  an  ounce  for  the  ham,  and 
seems  willing  to  do  so.  Not  only 
is  the  meat  in  an  imperishable  condition,  but  it  is  free 
from  bone. 

For  a  tin  box  of  imported  German  sausage 
(Frankfurter)  I  paid  thirty-five  cents.  This  package 
had  a  gross  weight  of  twenty  ounces.  The  tin  can 
weighed  four  ounces,  leaving  just  a  pound  of  sausage. 
This  sausage  contained,  I  was  told,  two  parts  of  pork 
to  one  of  veal.  It  was  finely  flavored,  slightly  smoked, 
packed  in  skins,  and  in  perfect  condition  when  the 
can  was  opened.  This  brand  is  regarded  as  a  great 
delicacy. 

There  are  scores  of  other  pork  products  on  the 
market,  and  I  cannot  pretend  to  enumerate  them. 
Those  in  tin  may  be  had  at  any  time  of  year,  while 
those  packed  in  paper  or  pasteboard  are  of  course 
limited  to  the  cooler  months. 

I  think  there  is  room  for  individual  enterprise  in 
the  -manufacture  and  preparation  of  special  brands  of 
ham,  shoulder,  bacon,  lard  and  sausage  for  the  fancy 
retail  trade  of  every  large  city.  In  some  respects 
the  great  packing  houses  have  the  advantage  over 


110  BIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

individual  operators,  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  man  who  fattens  his  own  hogs  ( if  he  does  the  work 
properly)  has  an  opportunity  to  make  better  pork  than 
the  average  on  the  market. 

So  I  repeat  that  I  am  greatly  in  favor  of  individual 
effort  in  the  production  of  really  choice  food  products. 
There  is  a  premium  on  such  products  always.  There 
are  many  buyers  whose  first  question  refers  to  quality 
rather  than  to  quantity  or  price,  and  these  buyers  con- 
stitute what  is  known  as  the  fancy  trade.  Cannot  my 
readers  get  a  share  of  that  trade  ? 


COINS. 

There  is  a  decreasing  demand  for  over-fat  hogs. 

If  light-weight  hogs  pay  best  in  money,  why  do  you  raise 
heavy  porkers  ? 

Put  the  hogs  on  the  platform  scales  occasionally.  You  will 
learn  something. 

Watch  the  markets.  Notice  the  ever-increasing  demand  for 
good  goods  in  small  parcels. 

The  pork  market  is  often  temporarily  depressed,  but  it  will 
never  fail  entirely.  Pork  is  one  of  the  standard  foods. 

England  is  the  greatest  foreign  buyer  of  American  hogs.  It 
is  therefore  worth  while  to  recognize  English  ideas  about  bacon. 

If  figures  are  to  be  believed,  it  costs  all  the  way  from  one  and 
one-half  cents  to  seven  cents  or  more  to  produce  a  pound  of  pork. 

Market  some  of  the  young  pigs  for  roasters  when  they  will 
dress  twelve  to  fifteen  pounds.  City  people  will  be  glad  to  get 
them. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


THE  POOR  MAN'S  PIG. 


A  pig  may  increase  a  pound  in  weight  every  day,  and  a  pound 
of  pork  per  day  is  enough  for  a  family.— Tim. 

The  man  who  keeps  one,  two 
or  three  pigs  usually  has  a  differ- 
ent problem  to  solve  from  the 
farmer  with  a  larger  number  of 
animals,  for  in  one  case  the  pigs 
are  fed  upon  swill  and  refuse, 
while  in  the  other  case  they  are 
pastured  or  fed  upon  products  of 
the  farm  which  might  otherwise 
be  sold.  The  man  with  one  pig  saves  wastage. 

The  one-pig  man  must  first  consider  the  food  sup- 
ply. Very  often  the  refuse  from  the  family  table, 
especially  if  one  or  two  cows  are  kept,  will  be  nearly 
sufficient.  In  such  cases  a  so-called  swill  barrel  is 
made  the  receptacle  for  every  sort  of  refuse  food  ma- 
terial, often  including  the  dish  water. 

Swill  is  a  proper  pig  food,  if  not  allowed  to  become 
stale  and  foul,  especially  if  balanced  as  to  contents 
with  middlings  or  corn-meal,  as  the  case  may  require. 
If  the  swill  be  mostly  milk,  a  little  corn-meal  should  be 
used  regularly.  If  it  be  mostly  water,  food  scraps, 
fruits  and  vegetables,  there  should  be  some  middlings 


112  BIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

added  to  it,  to  make  it  more  nutritious  during  the 
growing  period  of  the  pig. 

As  to  the  use  of  dish  water,  people  must  do  as 
they  please.  I  prefer  to  use  it  for  fertilizing  purposes, 
on  sod,  as  its  soapy  constituents  cannot  have  much  real 
food  value.  Fresh  clean  water  is  better  for  the  hogs. 
If  the  dishes  are  carefully  cleaned  before  being  washed 
the  dish  water  will  contain  but  small  traces  of  food. 

The  pig  pen  for  one  should  be  movable,  so  as  to 
be  easily  and  thoroughly  cleaned.  It  should  not  be  a 
rat  harbor.  It  should  afford  warm  and  dry  shelter  to 
the  pig.  And,  finally,  it  should  be  built  with  the  idea 
of  saving  all  the  manure  that  is  produced. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  construct  a  costly  building. 
Posts  may  be  lightly  planted,  with  a  view  to  the  future 
shifting  of  the  house  and  the  pen,  and  the  ground  given 
to  the  pig  one  year  may  next  year  be  plowed  or  spaded 
up  and  planted  with  vegetables. 

No  elaborate  care  of  the  manure  is  necessary,  but 
if  it  be  daily  or  frequently  scraped  up  and  put  under 
the  temporary  shelter  afforded  by  a  few  boards  it  will 
be  found  to  accumulate  very  rapidly ;  and  being 
mixed  somewhat  with  soil  it  will  be  in  excellent  order 
for  preservation.  In  feeding  try  a  little  bone  meal,  in 
a  box  separate  from  the  feeding-trough.  If  the  bone 
meal  fails  to  satisfy  the  animal's  craving  for  bone- 
making  food  (if  such  be  the  object  in  rooting)  try 
wheat  middlings.  Possibly  charcoal  and  salt  will  quiet 
the  pig.  Try  these  several  things  before  using  the  half- 
cruel  ring. 

The  shed  need  not  be  expensive.  The  floor  should 
lift  out  bodily,  which  will  make  it  easy  to  hunt  the  rats 


THE  POOR  MAN'S  PIG.  113 

and  to  move  the  building.  The  house  itself  may  easily 
be  made  in  sections,  to  be  taken  apart  at  pleasure. 
Three  sides  of  the  house  should  be  tight  and  the  other 
side  open,  but  so  arranged  as  to  be  closed  or  partly 
closed  during  cool  or  cold  weather.  The  trough  and 
swill  dump  may  be  temporarily  secured  by  stout  stakes, 
and  everything  made  as  satisfactory  as  though  the  quar- 
ters were  intended  to  be  permanent.  This  is  the  way 
to  have  clean,  healthy  pigs,  and  it  will  pay  every  time. 

A  little  bedding  is  good,  even  in  mild  weather, 
for  it  is  only  in  midsummer  that  our  nights  are  really 
warm,  and  a  shivering  pig  is  not  a  growing  pig.  The 
animal  must  be  comfortable  as  well  as  clean  in  order 
to  do  its  best. 

It  costs  but  little  to  indulge  in  the  luxury  of  two 
swill  barrels,  and  to  keep  one  of  them  always  empty 
and  szueet.  In  practice  I  never  could  get  one  barrel 
emptied  and  scalded  at  regular  intervals  without  wast- 
ing food,  but  now  it  is  a  simple  matter  to  keep  things 
reasonably  clean.  Besides,  it  is  a  comfort  to  always 
know  that  there  are  no  germs  of  any  kind  more  than  a 
week  old  in  the  swill  barrel.  Disease  germs  cannot 
withstand  frequent  changes.  It  is  only  in  neglected 
places  that  they  flourish.  Sunshine  is  hostile  to  all 
disease  germs. 

Shade,  pure  wrater  and  green  food  are  essentials 
to  the  most  rapid  growth  of  penned  pigs.  Each  of 
these  items  counts  for  much,  and  yet  each  is  often  neg- 
lected. Some  people  never  give  their  pigs  pure 
water  to  drink,  compelling  them  to  rely  wholly  upon 
the  not  too  savory  swill  ;  and  the  mistake  of  withhold- 
ing green  food  is  almost  as  common.  The  argument 


114  HIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 

that  pigs  live  and  grow  under  such  treatment  is  no 
proof  that  they  would  not  do  better  under  the  wiser 
way  suggested. 

I  think  that  much  milk  is  lost  simply  in  quenching 
thirst ;  thirst  that  could  as  well  be  appeased  with 
water.  But  when  people  have  the  milk  to  dispose  of 
as  a  by-product,  and  do  not  know  how  else  to  use  it, 
I  suppose  they  will  continue  to  pour  it  into  the  trough 
in  excess  of  the  digestive  powers  of  the  pig.  It  is  quite 
important,  however,  that  the  owner  of  even  a  few  pigs 
should  be  made  aware  of  the  real  digestive  require- 
ments of  the  animals 
under  his  care. 

This  information 
is  briefly  tabulated  in 
the  chapter  on  feed- 
ing, and  here  I  will 
merely  say  that  a  100- 
ponnd  hog  requires 
only  3.4  pounds  of 
organic  matter  (water 

OUT  FOR  A  LITTLE  WAYSIDE  PASTURE.     frQQ  \      ^^     fa y  TlllS 

amount  of  organic  matter  would  be  contained  in 
twelve  pounds  of  skim-milk  and  three  pounds  of 
corn-meal.  Such  a  ration  would  be  suited  to  a  pig 
somewhat  above  100  pounds  in  weight. 

Swill  made  of  house  scraps  is  probably  as  rich  in 
food  elements,  on  the  average,  as  a  mixture  of  skim- 
milk  and  corn-meal  in  the  proportion  just  suggested. 

As  to  the  merits  of  salt,  charcoal,  bone  meal, 
dried  blood,  offal  meat,  etc.,  for  pig  feeds,  there  are  dif- 
ferent opinions  and  practices.  Swill-fed  animals  which 


THE    POOR    MAN'S    PIG.  115 

receive  the  broken  bits  of  human  food  get  a  good  deal 
of  salt  in  that  way.  Mixed  salt  and  charcoal  is  some- 
times a  useful  condiment  or  appetizer,  especially  where 
the  hog's  ration  has  not  been  perfectly  balanced,  and 
where  by  reason  of  restricted  quarters  it  cannot 
search  for  food  adapted  to  its  cravings.  Ground  bone 
and  dried  blood  are  sometimes  of  great  use  as  side 
dishes  (not  in  the  trough)  to  afford  needed  nitrogen 
and  phosphoric  acid  ;  in  other  words,  to  supply  mus- 
cle and  bone-forming  materials  where  the  diet  has 
been  too  largely  of  corn  or  other  carbonaceous  food. 
Offal  meat  of  any  kind  has  no  right  place  in  the  pig 
pen,  and  is  distinctly  liable  to  cause  disease.  Such 
meat,  including  entrails  of  butchered  animals,  dead 
chickens  and  rats,  should  always  be  buried  or  com- 
posted. The  soil  is  the  true  place  for  them,  for  they 
contain  much  fertilizing  value. 

When  pigs  which  are  kept  alone,  under  good 
treatment,  fail  to  make  rapid  growth  it  is  because  of 
improper  nutrition,  and  the  swill  should  be  supple- 
mented either  with  wheat  middlings,  or  whatever 
nitrogenous  food  may  be  cheapest.  A  very  small 
amount  of  cottonseed  meal,  a  few  ounces  only  per 
week,  may  be  given  to  a  pig  which  has  not  sufficient 
nitrogenous  food  to  make  rapid  growth  ;  but  wheat 
middlings  would  perhaps  be  better. 

When  it  comes  to  finishing  the  home-raised 
porker,  and  making  ready  for  the  block,  we  have 
nothing  in  America  superior  to  corn  ;  and  corn  should 
be  fed  freely  for  several  weeks  before  killing.  Indeed, 
if  the  swill  diet  can  be  wholly  replaced  for  a  month  be- 
fore slaughtering  time  by  a  diet  of  corn,  it  will  do 


Il6  BIGGLE    SWINE    BOOK. 

much  toward  rounding  the  hog  out,  increasing  the 
weight,  and  adding  to  the  firmness  of  the  flesh. 

The  taste  and  skill  of  the  owner  must  determine 
how  best  to  put  on  the  finishing  touches — whether  to 
seek  for  additional  fat  by  heavy  feeding  of  corn  or 
only  to  seek  for  a  little  more  plumpness  to  a  hog 
already  in  good  condition.  There  is  a  general  belief 
that  corn  has  a  decided  influence  in  improving  and 
sweetening  the  pork,  and  it  is  very  common  to  finish 
the  feeding  in  the  way  suggested,  though  many  feed- 
ers give  some  swill  even  to  the  last. 

Butchering  in  one-hog  establishments  is  some- 
times done  in  the  old-fashioned  way,  with  every  detail 
performed  at  home  ;  but  now-a-days,  in  the  Eastern 
states,  it  is  perhaps  more  common  to  send  the  animal 
to  a  slaughter-house  and  pay  a  dollar  for  having  it 
killed  and  dressed. 


SCRAPS  WORTH   SAVING. 

A  dry  shed  and  a  dry  bed. 

Feed  only  what  will  be  eaten  up  clean. 

Water  is  the  cheapest  element  of  pork. 

Leaves  make  good  bedding,  but  straw  is  better. 

A  squealing  pig  is  cold,  hungry  or  uncomfortable. 

Spare  no  trouble  to  start  with  good  juveniles.  It  is  half  the 
battle. 

Remember:  $12  worth  of  manure  for  each  pig  per  year,  if 
not  wasted. 

If  a  hog's  manure  is  worth  $12  per  year,  as  estimated  by 
U.  S.  bulletins,  it  amounts  to  just  a  dollar  a  month.  Do  you  get 
such  a  dividend  ? 

Lice  multiply  in  muggy  weather,  amid  unclean  surround- 
ings. Receive  them  with  lard  scented  with  kerosene  or  tobacco. 
Then  clean  the  pen  carefully  and  use  fresh  bedding. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


THE  MANURE  PILE. 


YORKSHIRE   BOAR. 


Half  the  hog  manure  is  lost  and  the  other  half  is  too  often 
neglected. — John  Tucker. 

More  than  once  in  the  pre- 
vious pages  have  I  referred  to  the 
fact  that  a  recent  estimate  places  a 
value  of  $  12  on  the  yearly  manure 
product  of  a  hog.  The  average 
of  each  horse  is  estimated  at  $27, 
for  each  head  of  cattle  $19,  for  each  hog  $12,  and  for 
each  sheep  $2. 

The  manure  value  seems  almost  incredibly  large, 
for  what  farmer  with  ten  hogs  counts  on  getting  $120 
worth  of  manure  from  them  each  year  ?  Indeed,  what 
farmer  clears  $12  per  head  on  his  pork,  above  the  cost 
of  feeding  ?  We  often  hear  of  profitable  pork-fatten- 
ing operations,  but  much  less  is  said  about  the  hog 
manure  or  its  cash  value.  Perhaps  there  is  no  better 
way  of  showing  the  value  of  the  pig-pen  product  than 
by  comparing  it  with  the  product  of  the  cow  stable. 


Water 

per  cent. 

Nitrogen 
per  cent. 

Phosphoric 
Acid  per  cent. 

Potash 
per  cent. 

Value 
per  Ton 

Cow  manure   .   .   . 

75-25 

.426 

.290 

.440 

$2.O2 

Pig  manure      .   .   . 

74-13 

.840 

.390 

.320 

3.29 

Pig  manure,  however,  is  variable  in  composition, 


u8 


HIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 


due  to  the  mixed  nature  of  the  food  supplied  to  this 
animal,  but  is  generally  rich,  although  containing  a 
high  percentage  of  water.  It  generates  little  heat  in 
decomposing. 

The  urine  is  valuable,  but  not  so  valuable  as  the 
manure  itself.  This  is  exceptional,  as  with  other  do- 
mestic animals  the  reverse  is  true.  Still,  hog  urine 
should  be  carefully  saved  along  with  the  other. 

The  argument  will  of  course  be  advanced  by  busy 
people  that  it  does  not  pay  in  money  to  expend  so 
much  time  and  labor  in  the  hog  yard  as  would  be  in- 
volved in  the  daily  collection  of  all  the  droppings  and 
in  saving  the  urine. 

The  answer  is  that  such  collection  should  be  auto- 
matic, as  much  as  possi- 
ble. Manure  dropped  in 
large  yards  or  pastures  is 
not  lost,  as  it  finds  its  way 
directly  to  the  soil,  and 
will  exercise  a  whole- 
some influence  as  a  fer- 
tilizer. The  pig  pen 
and  buildings  should  be 

WESTERN  HERD  OF  JERSEY  REDS.        shifted  from  time  tO  time, 

so  that  the  highly  enriched  location  occupied  by  the 
pigs  will  in  turn  come  under  the  plow. 

Drainage  should  be  carefully  attended  to,  so  that 
all  leachings  will  flow  over  sod,  or  over  garden  or  field 
soil.  Little  or  nothing  will  be  lost  if  these  precautions 
are  observed. 

The  bulk  of  the  manure,  including  all  which  is 
made  in  the  shed  and  all  which  can  be  easily  scooped 


THE   MANURE    PILE.  119 

up  in  the  yard  or  pen,  containing  more  or  less  litter, 
should  be  most  carefully  accumulated,  either  by  storage 
under  a  shed,  or  by  building  it  into  a  compact  heap,  or 
by  frequent  removal  to  field  or  garden,  to  be  spread 
whenever  convenient. 

Hog  manure  is  a  heavy  product  and  quite  hard  to 
handle  on  account  of  its  weight,  and  hence  the  work  of 
caring  for  it  is  expensive.  I  know  that  labor  can  be 
ill  spared  on  the  farm  for  anything  except  the  neces- 
saries, but  I  come  back  to  the  point  of  beginning  and 
urge  that  it  is  necessary  to  take  care  of  a  product  worth 
$12  per  year  per  animal. 

Do  anything  with  hog  manure  except  waste  it. 

The  common  practice  is  to  allow  the  manure  to 
accumulate  under  the  hogs,  layer  by  layer,  and  to  haul 
it  out  only  once  or  twice  a  year.  This  practice  is  not 
a  bad  one  under  some  circumstances.  If  the  pig  pen 
is  surrounded  by  a  solid  stone  wall,  so  that  no  water 
except  rain  can  enter,  and  no  leachings  can  escape,  and 
if  there  is  plenty  of  litter  to  be  worked  up,  it  may  be  a 
good  plan  to  allow  the  manure  to  thus  accumulate. 
But  I  always  fear  the  contamination  of  some  near-by 
well  of  drinking  water,  to  say  nothing  of  the  injury  sus- 
tained by  pigs  compelled  to  perpetually  breathe  the 
products  of  fermentation  and  to  lie  down  upon  couches 
that  are  always  mouldy  and  often  wet.  Such  manure 
beds,  with  pigs  upon  them,  often  occupy  the  basements 
of  "barns. 

It  is  time  to  regard  the  pig  as  a  clean  rather  than 
as  an  unclean  animal ;  and  I  think  the  markets  will 
compel  this  change  of  treatment,  for  cleanliness  is  di- 
rectly in  the  line  of  choice  pork  products. 


120  BIGGLE    SWINE    BOOK. 

It  is  some  labor  to  make  a  stack  of  hog  manure, 
to  scatter  plaster  of  paris  upon  it,  and  to  put  it  into  neat 
shape.  But  it  probably  pays  well.  I  have  personally 
done  it  with  satisfactory  results  ;  certainly  with  the 
result  of  having  more  and  better  manure  than  when 
the  operation  was  forgotten  or  neglected. 

Taking  the  fertilizing  value  of  equal  weights  of 
manure  in  its  natural  condition,  farm  animals  probably 
stand  in  the  following  order  :  Poultry,  sheep,  pigs, 
horses,  cows. 

GAINS. 

Be  jealous  guardians  of  all  manure  made  on  the  farm. 

Hogs  drop  most  manure  quite  near  their  feeding  places. 

The  hog  loves  a  bath,  but  what  benefit  is  a  bath  in  liquid  mud  ? 

Hog  pens  should  not  be  on  steep  places  ;  too  much  manure  is 
lost. 

Clean  the  pen  twice  a  week,  and  be  surprised  by  the  size  of 
the  accumulated  heap. 

The  dung  of  hogs  should  never  be  in  pellets,  as  such  a  condi- 
tion indicates  constipation. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


HOG  CHOLERA. 


In  hog  cholera  an  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  ten  pounds 
of  cure. — Tim. 

More   has  been  spoken  and 
written  on. the   subject  of    hog 
cholera  than  upon  any  other  one 
subject  connected  with  hogs.     It 
has  ever  been  a  fruitful  source  for 
discussion  at  farmers'    institutes 
and  an  endless  theme  on  which  to 
write.     The  Government  has  ap- 
THE  BARS  THAT  KEEP  propriated  large  sums  of  money 
HOG  CHOLERA  our.     and  has  empioyed  learned  men 

who  have  labored  with  seeming  diligence  for  years,  and 
yet  after  all  these  years  of  waiting  and  all  this  expendi- 
ture of  money  we  are  forced  to  admit,  whether  humili- 
ating or  not,  that  we  know  but  very  little  that  is  of 
practical  benefit  about  the  whole  matter. 

But  two  things  are  absolutely  known  about  the 
disease.  One  is  that  it  sweeps  unrestrained  over  vast 
areas  of  country,  leaving  death  and  destruction  in  its 
wake  ;  and  the  other  is  that  hogs  which  contract  the 
disease  usually  die. 

1  shall  not  attempt  to  deal  with  this  subject  in  a 
scientific  way,  but  shall  deal  with  it  rather  from  a  practi- 
cal standpoint.  Much  that  I  know,  in  fact  most  all  that 
1  do  know,  has  been  learned  in  the  school  of  bitter  ex- 
perience, and  the  lessons  were  sometimes  very  costly. 


122  HIGGLE    SWINE    BOOK. 

Before  entering  further  into  this  subject  I  desire  to 
notice  what  to  me  is  the  most  hopeful  promise  held  out 
by  any  of  the  investigators.  In  this,  as  in  all  other  great 
searches  after  truth,  some  men  have  stood  far  in  ad- 
vance of  their  fellows.  The  only  ray  of  hope  I  see  held 
out  to  the  swine  raiser  comes  in  the  promise  of  im- 
munity through  prevention.  Some  of  the  investigators 
have  contended  that  the  animals  could  be  rendered 
cholera  proof  by  inoculation  with  a  virus  containing  the 
germs  of  the  disease  especially  prepared  for  the 
purpose.  They  have  not  as  yet  been  able  to  render 
this  practical,  for  the  reason  that  the  virus  would  some- 
times produce  the  genuine  hog  cholera  and  kill  the  hogs 
operated  on.  The  unsolved  problem  seems  to  be  to 
cultivate  the  germs  in  a  form  mild  enough. 

That  they  will  in  the  end  be  successful  I  have  not 
the  slightest  doubt.  How  long  we  may  have  to  wait 
before  they  will  attain  success  I  cannot  say,  but  that 
they  will  succeed  in  the  end  I  know  from  what  is  gen- 
erally conceded  in  regard  to  the  disease,  and  that  is 
that  a  hog  once  having  the  disease  will  never  take  it 
a  second  time.  This  being  the  case,  all  that  remains 
to  be  done  is  to  cultivate  a  virus  sufficiently  mild  as 
not  to  endanger  the  life  of  the  animal  and  of  sufficient 
strength  to  produce  the  disease  in  a  light  form. 

Another  and  somewhat  more  recent  means  of  pre- 
venting the  disease  is  the  serum  or  antitoxin  cure.  It 
consists  in  introducing  into  the  system  of  the  animal  a 
serum  which  enables  the  body  to  more  successfully 
combat  the  disease.  The  Government  officials  seem 
to  be  highly  pleased  with  the  results  so  far  and  seem  to 
believe  that  relief  from  the  dread  disease  is  likely  to 


HOG    CHOLERA.  123 

come  through  this  means.  The  serum  produced  last 
year,  wherever  used  in  cholera-infected  herds,  saved 
over  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  animals.  It  is  easily  ap- 
plied, and  its  good  effects  in  sick  hogs  are  seen  almost 
immediately. 

That  hog  cholera  will  ever  be  successfully  treated 
with  medicine  I  doubt,  but  that  it  will  be  prevented  in 
time  I  firmly  believe.  The  whole  trend  of  investiga- 
tion seems  to  be  in  that  direction,  and  I  feel  sure  suc- 
cess awaits  their  efforts.  Till  then  I  suppose  we  must 
make  use  of  the  best  means  at  our  disposal  to  combat 
the  disease. 

Page  after  page  has  been  written  as  a  means  of 
telling  hog  cholera,  but  much  of  it  is  difficult  of  com- 
prehension to  the  average  reader.  If  you  have  never 
had  it  in  your  herd  you  are  to  be  congratulated  on 
your  good  fortune  ;  and  if  you  ever  do,  when  you  are 
done  with  it  you  may  not  have  as  many  hogs  as  you 
did  before,  but  rest  assured  of  one  thing,  and  that  is 
you  will  know  hog  cholera  when  you  see  it  again.  As 
a  rule  hogs  do  not  look  well  for  weeks  before  an  attack. 
At  other  times  it  will  come  like  a  bolt  of  lightning  from 
a  clear  blue  sky.  The  first  thing  noticeable  is  a  loss  of 
appetite  ;  the  hair  will  look  harsh  and  dry  ;  sometimes 
a  slight  cough  will  be  noticeable,  at  other  times  not. 
The  disease  is  sometimes  of  slow  development,  at  other 
times  quite  rapid.  Instead  of  the  sprightly,  rapid 
movement  so  characteristic  of  the  young  and  growing 
hog,  he  moves  slowly  and  indifferently;  he  looks  gaunt 
and  tired  ;  his  back  is  arched,  and  he  moves  his  hind 
legs  with  a  dragging  motion;  his  temperature  will  most 
likely  be  high,  probably  from  104  to  108 — the  normal 


124  BIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

temperature  of  the  hog  is  from  looto  102.  His  bowels 
may  be  costive  or  the  discharges  may  be  thin  and 
watery  in  substance,  but  usually  black  or  dark  in  color, 
emitting  an  offensive  odor  peculiar  to  the  disease. 

The  disease  may  be  of  a  lingering  character  and 
the  animals  linger  for  weeks,  or  they  may  die  in  three 
or  four  days.  Usually  the  lingering  type  is  less  fatal 
than  the  more  rapid  forms  of  the  disease.  Hogs 
which  discharge  freely  in  the  first  stages  of  the  disease 
are  more  likely  to  recover  than  when  the  bowels 
remain  constipated.  Dark  blue  spots  will  often  appear 
under  the  skin.  The  bowels  will  be  more  or  less  in- 
flamed inside  ;  in  the  small  intestines  and  sometimes 
in  the  stomach  will  be  found  ulcers  ;  this,  however,  is 
not  common  in  the  first  stages  of  the  disease.  The 
bladder  will  most  likely  be  full  of  a  dark  thick  sub- 
stance, showing  that  the  kidneys,  and  in  fact  the  whole 
internal  organism,  are  affected. 

If  I  were  to  say  what  I  thought  was  the  best  thing 
that  could  possibly  be  done  when  cholera  appears  in  a 
herd,  I  would  unhesitatingly  say,  take  the  well  hogs  to 
clean  new  quarters  where  no  hogs  have  been  for  years. 
Then  if  more  of  them  take  sick  move  them  again,  and 
it  is  my  belief  based  on  actual  experience  that  more 
can  be  accomplished  in  this  way  than  by  the  use  of  all 
the  medicine  in  the  country.  For  various  reasons  it  is 
not  always  possible  to  move  hogs,  and  in  that  case 
treatment  may  be  resorted  to,  sometimes  with  fairly 
good  results.  The  treatment  should  consist  in  separat- 
ing the  well  from  the  sick  hogs,  and  in  dividing  the  sick 
hogs  according  to  age  and  size  and  severity  of  the  at- 
tack. I  do  not  think  that  more  than  four  or  five  hogs 


HOG    CHOLERA.  125 

should  be  in  the  same  pen,  and  fewer  would  be  still 
better.  Feed  but  little,  and  let  that  be  food  which  is 
easily  digested.  Use  air-slacked  lime  and  crude  car- 
bolic acid  freely  as  a  disinfectant.  Use  it  both  on  the 
hogs  and  on  the  ground,  in  the  sleeping  places,  on  the 
fences  and  in  the  drinking  vessels.  As  much  depends 
on  a  thorough  use  of  disinfectants  as  upon  any  other 
thing.  If  the  bowels  are  constipated  give  something  to 
move  them.  If  too  loose  give  something  to  check  them. 
In  short,  use  good  common  horse  sense  (so  to  speak) 
and  you  will  usually  succeed  very  well.  I  have  found 
nothing  better  than  salts  or  oil  to  move  the  bowels,  and 
I  have  tried  nothing  with  better  results  to  check  them 
than  a  few  drops  of  crystal  carbolic  acid.  I  know  of 
no  food  better,  if  indeed  as  good,  for  sick  hogs  than 
ship  stuff,  or  middlings  as  it  is  sometimes  called  ;  it 
seems  to  digest  easily  and  is  soothing  to  the  bowels. 

If  the  weather  is  wet  and  cold  keep  the  hogs  dry 
and  warm.  In  wet  weather  (if  not  too  warm)  keep 
the  hogs  in  a  floored  pen,  or  at  least  in  a  pen  where  no 
water  will  lie  in  sinks  or  holes,  as  dirty  water  is  one  of 
the  worst  things  a  sick  hog  can  possibly  have.  If  the 
weather  is  warm,  shelter  the  hog  from  heat.  In  other 
words,  make  him  as  comfortable  as  possible. 

Let  it  be  borne  constantly  in  mind  that  much  de- 
pends on  good  nursing.  It  would  seem  natural  and 
reasonable  that  an  animal  afflicted  as  he  is  would  do 
best  if  allowed  plenty  of  fresh  water  to  drink,  but 
actual  experience  demonstrates  that  a  greater  number 
recover  when  the  supply  of  water  is  limited  than  when 
it  is  not.  I  do  not  pretend  to  say  why  it  is  so,  but  ex- 
perience has  taught  me  that  it  is. 


126  HIGGLE    SWINE    BOOK. 

Hogs  that  are  very  sick  should  be  kept  by  them- 
selves, as  others  seem  to  disturb  them,  and  often  their 
recovery  depends  on  being  perfectly  still  at  the  critical 
period  of  the  disease.  I  have  never  been  successful  in 
drenching  hogs  ;  I  have  sometimes  done  it,  and  some- 
times they  recovered  and  at  other  times  they  did  not, 
but  even  when  they  did  recover  there  was  nothing  to 
prove  that  the  drenching  had.  anything  to  do  with  it. 
As  a  rule  hogs  that  are  too  sick  to  eat  die.  All  hogs 
that  die  of  cholera,  or  of  any  other  disease  for  the 
matter  of  that,  should  be  burned  and  not  buried,  as 
abundant  evidence  can  be  produced  to  prove  that 
the  carcasses  of  hogs  dying  of  cholera  have  been  the 
cause  of  an  outbreak  years  afterward.  Hence,  I  say 
by  all  means  burn  all  dead  hogs  as  the  only  absolutely 
safe  way  of  disposing  of  them.  The  burning  operation 
is  very  simple.  Lay  the  bodies  across  two  logs,  sticks 
or  pieces  of  iron  that  will  keep  them  up  off  the  ground 
so  that  the  fire  can  get  under  them,  and  the  grease 
from  their  own  bodies  will  usually  do  the  work,  with  a 
little  wood  or  corn  cobs  added  occasionally. 

How  can  we  guard  against  the  disease  so  as  to 
prevent  it  is  a  question  easily  asked  but  not  so  easily 
answered.  Men  with  medicine  to  sell  will  tell  you  they 
can,  but  my  belief,  based  on  bitter  experience,  is  that 
they  cannot. 

Experience  teaches  that  the  disease  more  com- 
monly appears  in  large  herds  than  in  small  ones.  The 
moral  of  this,  then,  is  easily  understood.  Do  not  keep 
hogs  in  large  droves.  I  do  not  believe  that  over  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  hogs  at  most  should  long  remain  together, 
and  half  the  number  would  be  infinitely  better  and  safer 


HOG    CHOLERA.  127 

in  every  way.  Hogs  of  different  sizes  and  ages  should 
not  be  kept  together,  excepting  of  course  sows-  and 
suckling  pigs.  Hogs  should  not  be  kept  on  the  same 
ground  from  year  to  year  if  it  can  possibly  be  avoided. 
Plow  up  the  lots  and  pens  and  cultivate  them  for  a  year 
or  two  ;  it  will  greatly  assist  in  keeping  your  lots  free 
from  the  germ.  The  disease  is  much  more  prevalent 
in  the  summer  and  fall  months  than  in  other  seasons  of 


TOO  MANY  CORN  COBS  HERE. 


the  year.     Then  as  far  as  is  possible  reduce  the  number 
of  hogs  on  the  farm  at  this  season  of  the  year. 

If  your  neighbor's  hogs  have  the  disease,  stay  away 
from  his  pens  and  be  sure  he  stays  away  from  yours. 
Shoot  a  crow,  a  buzzard,  or  a  stray  dog  that  comes  on 
your  place  as  unhesitatingly  as  you  would  kill  a  mad 
dog.  This  trio  in  my  opinion  does  more  to  scatter  the 
disease  than  all  the  other  causes  combined.  If  your 
hogs  are  fit  or  any  way  near  fit  to  go  to  market  when 
the  disease  makes  its  appearance  in  the  neighborhood, 


128  BIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

sell  them  without  delay.  "A  bird  in  hand  is  worth 
two  in  a  bush."  If  your  hogs  have  cholera  this  year, 
don't  get  discouraged  and  quit,  but  try  it  again,  on 
fresh  ground. 

If  your  brood  sows  have  passed  through  the  cholera, 
keep  them  ;  they  are  valuable.  They  will  never  again 
have  the  disease,  and  their  pigs  are  not  nearly  so  apt  to 
contract  it  as  pigs  from  sows  that  have  not  had  the 
disease.  Look  out  for  streams  which  come  down  from 
some  neighbor  above  you.  This  has  been  found  a  fre- 
quent cause  of  cholera  outbreaks.  The  germs  of  hog 
cholera  possess  great  vitality,  and  will  live  in  the  soil, 
in  moist  matter  and  especially  in  water,  for  months. 

If  you  feed  corn,  rake  the  cobs  together  often  and 
burn  them;  pour  water  on  the  coals  and  then  put  salt 
on  the  charcoal  thus  made  and  you  have  an  excellent 
preventive  for  diseases,  with  little  or  no  cost.  Keep 
your  hogs,  excepting  brood  sows,  ready  for  market. 
It  may  come  handy  some  day.  Strong,  vigorous  hogs 
are  less  liable  to  contract  the  disease  than  hogs  of  less 
strength  and  vigor.  Then  breed  and  feed  for  both  these 
things.  Eternal  vigilance  in  hog  breeding,  as  in  other 
kinds  of  business,  is  the  price  of  success. 

Here  is  a  formula  for  the  treatment  of  hog  cholera 
that  is  probably  as  good  as  any,  which  is  not  Saying 
much.  It  is  suggested  by  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture : 

Sulphur     i  pound. 

Wood  charcoal i  pound. 

Sodium  chloride 2  pounds. 

Sodium  bicarbonate 2  pounds. 

Sodium  hyposulphite      2  pounds. 

Sodium  sulphate i  pound. 

Antimony  sulphide i  pound. 


HOG    CHOLERA.  I2Q 

Mix  thoroughly  and  give  a  large  tablespoonful  to 
each  2oo-pound  hog,  once  a  day.  If  the  animal  does 
not  eat,  add  the  medicine  to  a  little  water,  shake  thor- 
oughly and  give  from  a  bottle  by  the  mouth.  If  the 
animal  will  eat,  mix  the  medicine  with  sloppy  food. 
The  same  remedy  is  recommended  as  a  preventive  to 
those  animals  that  do  not  as  yet  show  signs  of  disease. 

If  you  have  had  cholera  on  your  place  and  you 
have  small,  inexpensive  pens,  burn  them  at  once.  In  a 
piggery,  burn  all  the  litter  and  loose  inexpensive  parts  ; 
renew  the  floor  if  possible  and  disinfect  the  remainder 
by  washing  it  with  hot  water  and  wrashing  soda.  After 
washing,  apply  with  a  whitewash  brush,  or  better  yet  a 
spray  pump,  a  solution  of  one  part  of  carbolic  acid  to 
fifty  parts  of  water.  Then  whitewash  thoroughly. 
Treat  the  fences  in  the  same  way.  Earth  floors  should 
be  removed  to  a  depth  of  at  least  six  inches  and  the 
ground  sprinkled  with  chloride  of  lime  and  a  few  days 
later  a  good  coating  of  air-slacked  lime.  Don't  put 
pigs  in  the  quarters  for  at  least  six  months,  and  if  pos- 
sible have  them  vacant  over  the  first  winter. 


A  FEW  CHOLERA  DON'TS. 
Don't  let  your  hog  drink  dirty,  filthy  water. 
Don't  castrate  pigs  when  cholera  is  in  the  neighborhood. 
Don't  bring  home  cholera  from  the  fairs  and  stock  shows. 
Don't  wait  until  your  hogs  are  all  dead  before  doing  something. 

Don't  forget  to  disinfect  all  quarters  where  sick  hogs  have 
been. 

Don't  throw  dead  animals  in  a  creek  or  river.     Burn  them 
every  time. 

Don't  put  pigs  in  a  field  where  there  has  been  cholera  for  at 
least  a  year. 

Don't  drag  a  dead  animal  over  the  ground.     Carry  it  on  a 
plank  or  in  a  box  and  burn  all. 


130 


BIGGLE    SWINE   BOOK. 


Don't  keep  your  hogs  in  a  field  along  a  railroad  if  you  can  help 
it.  Railroads  often  spread  the  disease. 

Don't  overcrowd.  It  is  responsible  for  many  troubles  and 
multiplies  directly  the  chances  of  all  contagious  diseases. 

Don't  forget  to  be  considerate  of  your  neighbors.  If  you  have 
cholera,  put  up  a  sign,  "Hog  Cholera,  Keep  Out"  and  insist 
upon  it. 

Don't  immediately  introduce  new  animals  into  your  herd.  Put 
them  by  themselves  awhile  until  you  are  sure  they  have  no 
cholera  about  them. 

Don't  fail  to  have  plenty  of  charcoal  around  where  the  hogs 
can  get  at  it.  It  acts  as  a  condiment  and  preventive.  An  ex- 
cellent plan  is  to  use  up  the  corn  cobs  in  this  way.  Gather  them 
into  a  pile  and  when  they  are  thoroughly  ablaze  put  out  the 
fire  by  throwing  water  or  earth  over  the  pile. 


Shots  Tor  shoat).  A  young 
pig  of  either  sex. 

Hog.    A  matured  pig. 

Barrow.  A  male  pig  cas- 
trated. 

Gilt.  A  female  pig  when 
young. 

Sow.    A  mature  female  pig. 

Runt.  An  unusually  small 
Pig- 

Farrow.  A  litter  of  pigs  ; 
to  bring  forth  pigs. 


SOME  TECHNICAL  TERMS. 

Boar.    A  mature  male  pig. 

Store  Hogs.  Pigs  kept  over 
winter;  not  expected  to  gain 
much  weight. 

Tibnan.  The  little  pig 
which  has  to  take  the  back 
teats. 

Yelt.    A  young  brood  sow. 

Cross  Breeding.  The  cross- 
ing of  thoroughbreds. 

Grading.  Mating  a  thor- 
oughbred with  common  stock. 


SMALL  YORKSHIRE. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


OTHER  PIG  AILMENTS. 


//  is  hard  to  doctor  a  sick  hog.  Better  never  let  them  get  sick, 
by  giving  range,  pasturage  and  a  chance  to  be  natural  and  keep 
clean. — John  Tucker. 

Pig  ailments  are  numerous ;  I 
shall  speak  only  of  some  of  the  most 
common.  I  do  not  believe  the  great 
majority  of  the  readers  of  this  book 
care  to  know  the  scientific  names  of  the  different  dis- 
eases. I  believe  that  they  will  be  more  interested  in 
knowing  how  to  tell  and  how  to  treat  them  than  to  be 
able  to  call  them  by  their  scientific  names,  hence  I 
shall  leave  the  technical  names  out  of  the  discussion. 
It  is  always  best  to  give  medicines  mixed  with  food 
or  drink  where  possible.  If  the  animal  refuses  food  or 
drink  and  it  is  necessary  to  administer  drugs,  it  may  be 
done  by  placing  a  stout  chain  (an  ordinary  harness 
breast  chain  does  very  well)  within  the  mouth  and  well 
back  between  the  jaws,  which  are  thus  kept  from  crush- 
ing the  bottle.  Two  or  three  men  are  necessary  for  the 
undertaking,  one  or  two  to  hold  the  chain  and  one  to 
pour  the  medicine.  The  head  should  be  well  elevated, 
which  places  the  pig  on  his  haunches.  Do  not  pour 
the  medicine  fast  enough  to  strangle  the  animal. 

Hogs  will  not  do  well  when  the  skin  is  covered 
with  filth.  Bad  air  will  bring  on  coughs  ;  all  corn  for 


132  BIGGLE    SWINE    BOOK. 

food,  fever  ;  a  wet  bed,  rheumatism  ;  and  a  big  bunch 
together  will  breed  disease.  With  a  clean  skin,  good 
air,  a  variety  of  food,  a  dry  bed  and  a  few  together,  and 
lots  of  out-of-doors,  they  will  do  well. 

When  at  pasture  they  find  many  roots,  nuts  and 
pebbles,  besides  being  continually  active,  which  does 
more  than  food  for  their  hearty  health,  rapid  and  easy 
digestion  and  speedy,  profitable  growth. 

I  hope  that  American  farmers  who  raise  hogs  on 
such  foods  as  grass,  clover,  grain  and  milk  will  lose 
no  opportunity  to  condemn  the  feeding  of  pigs  upon 
slaughter-house  refuse  and  such  disgusting,  offensive 
and  disease-breeding  material.  Hogs  fed  on  the  offal 
of  animals  are  only  too  liable  to  be  infested  with  trich- 
inae ;  and  the  whole  idea  of  giving  such  stuff  to  hogs 
is  a  wrong  one,  tending  only  to  bring  the  use  of  pork 
for  human  food  into  disrepute.  Slaughter-house  waste 
should  be  converted  into  fertilizer,  of  course ;  not 
given  to  pigs  and  rats,  nor  allowed  to  go  to  decay. 
Some  of  our  neighborhood  slaughter-houses  are  dis- 
creditable ;  yet  thither  not  a  few  hogs  are  taken  for 
butchering.  The  Government  is  beginning  to  point 
out  some  of  these  evils  through  its  meat  inspectors. 

THUMPS. — This  disease  is  quite  common  (especially  in  the 
early  spring)  and  is  exceedingly  hard  to  handle  when  once  con- 
tracted. More  can  be  done  to  prevent  than  to  cure.  You  visit 
the  sow  and  litter  in  the  morning-  to  give  them  their  accus- 
tomed feed,  and  you  notice  that  one  of  the  fattest  and  plumpest 
ones  does  not  leave  his  bed  as  do  the  others.  You  enter  the 
sleeping  room  and  compel  him  to  come  out,  which  he  does  some- 
what reluctantly,  and  you  will  notice  that  his  sides  move  with 
a  peculiar  jerking  motion,  and  if  allowed  he  will  soon  return 
to  his  bed.  Rest  assured  he  has  thumps,  and  nine  chances  to 
one  he  will  die.  It  is  caused  by  fatty  accumulations  about  the 


OTHER   PIG  AILMENTS.  133 

breast,  which  interfere  with  its  action,  and  the  lungs  work  hard 
—pump  for  dear  life  to  keep  up  the  heart's  action— to  send  the 
blood  through  the  body.  The  pig  is  faint  because  of  feeble  circu- 
lation, and  he  is  cold,  and  soon  dies  from  exhaustion  or  weakness. 
He  has  no  strength  to  suck  or  move.  Poor  little  thing ! 

To  prevent  thumps,  get  over  into  the  pen  several  times  a  day 
and  hustle  the  little  pigs  about  the  pen  ;  also  stint  the  sow  so  that 
she  will  give  less  milk.  Pigs  when  they  stirabout,  and  when  they 
are  thin  in  flesh,  rarely  have  thumps. 

I  have  sometimes  succeeded  by  shutting  them  out  in  the  sun- 
shine for  an  hour  or  two  each  day ,  but  usually  they  die.  Thumps 
rarely  occurs  among  pigs  farrowed  after  the  weather  is  fine,  but 
does  quite  frequently  occur  among  pigs  farrowed  in  the  early 
spring.  If  the  weather  is  cold  and  stormy  and  the  sow  and  litter 
keep  their  bed  much,  then  be  on  the  lookout  for  thumps.  Guard 
against  it  by  compelling  both  sow  and  litter  to  exercise  in  the 
open  air. 

CANKEROUS  SORE  MOUTH  is  a  disease  which  is  quite  com- 
mon and  which  if  not  promptly  taken  in  hand  is  often  quite  fatal. 
When  pigs  are  from  a  few  days  to  two  weeks  old,  you  may  notice 
a  slight  swelling  of  the  lips  or  a  sniffling  in  the  nose.  An  exami- 
nation will  show  a  whitish  spongy  growth  on  the  sides  of  the 
mouth  just  inside  the  lips  or  around  the  teeth.  This  is  cankerous 
sore  mouth,  and  if  not  taken  promptly  in  hand  will  result  in  the 
death  of  the  entire  litter,  and  will  sometimes  spread  to  other  litters. 

Some  claim  the  disease  is  caused  by  damp  and  filthy  beds, 
others  say  it  comes  from  a  diseased  condition  of  the  sow,  and  still 
others  claim  it  is  caused  by  the  little  pigs  fighting  over  the  teats 
and  wounding  each  other  with  their  sharp  teeth,  and  stoutly  aver 
that  if  the  teeth  are  promptly  removed  no  case  of  sore  mouth 
will  ever  occur.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  there  is  some  truth  in 
each  of  these  claims.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  wounds  made  by 
fighting  will  alone  produce  the  disease,  but  it  is  quite  reasonable 
to  conclude  that  the  wound  furnishes  a  place  for  the  germ  to  begin 
its  work. 

Hold  the  pig  firmly  and  with  a  knife  or  some  cutting  instru- 
ment remove  all  the  spongy  foreign  growth,  and  be  sure  you  get 
it  all  even  though  the  pig  may  squeal  and  the  wound  bleed  ;  your 
success  in  treating  the  disease  will  depend  largely  on  the  thor- 
oughness with  which  you  remove  this  foreign  growth.  After  re- 


134  BIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

moving  the  fungous  growth  apply  an  ointment  made  of  glycerine 
and  carbolic  acid  in  about  the  proportion  of  one  part  of  the  acid 
to  from  five  to  eight  parts  glycerine.  Repeat  this  each  day  for 
three  or  four  days  and  the  disease  will  usually  yield.  You  may 
discover  in  a  day  or  two  after  commencing  treatment  that  you 
did  not  succeed  in  removing  all  the  cankerous  growth  at  first, 
and  if  so,  repeat  the  cutting  operation  till  you  do  remove  it  all. 

Another  treatment  which  I  have  heard  recommended  but 
which  I  have  never  tried,  is  to  catch  the  diseased  pig  and  dip  his 
nose  and  mouth  up  to  his  eyes  in  chlora  naptholeum  without  dilut- 
ing it.  This  is  certainly  easily  done  and  is  highly  commended 
by  the  person  suggesting  it. 

Is  the  disease  contagious  ?  I  do  not  believe  it  is  in  the  usually 
accepted  meaning  of  the  term.  I  have  often  had  one  litter  affected 
and  other  litters  in  an  adjoining  pen  show  no  signs  of  the  disease. 
Hence  I  have  concluded  that  while  it  is  possible  for  one  pig  to 
communicate  the  disease  to  another  of  the  same  litter,  I  think  it 
quite  improbable  that  it  will  be  communicated  to  one  of  another 
litter.  So  firmly  do  I  believe  this  that  when  I  find  one  litter 
affected  I  give  myself  no  uneasiness  about  other  litters.  Pure 
peroxide  of  hydrogen,  applied  with  sponge  or  syringe  after  re- 
moval of  the  fungous  growth,  is  very  good  treatment. 

BLIND  STAGGERS,  INDIGESTION,  SICK  STOMACH,  FOUNDER. — 
Causes,  over-feeding,  especially  common  with  new  corn ;  sour 
or  decayed  food.  Sudden  warm  sultry  weather  predisposes  in 
highly  fed  hogs.  Insufficient  exercise  is  also  a  predisposing  cause. 

Symptoms. — Loss  of  appetite,  bowels  constipated,  or  maybe 
diarrhoea.  In  some  severe  cases  blind  staggers  and  great  pale- 
ness of  mouth  and  nose,  coldness  of  surface  of  body  ;  abdomen  may 
be  distended  and  drum-like  from  contained  gases. 

Treatment. — Remove  sick  animals,  provide  clean,  dry,  well 
ventilated  quarters,  with  chance  for  exercise,  and  fresh  earth  and 
water.  If  animal  will  eat,  give  light  feed.  Give  charcoal  in  lump 
form,  also  mix  soda  bicarbonate  in  food  at  rate  of  two  tablespoon- 
fuls  per  day  to  each  Half-grown  animal.  It  is  rarely  necessary  to 
drench  with  medicine.  If  recovery  begins,  use  care  not  to  again 
feed  too  much. 

MILK  FEVKR  occurs  in  sows  immediately  after  farrowing  or 
within  the  first  few  days  afterwards.  The  symptoms  are  loss  of 
milk,  swollen,  hard  condition  of  the  milk  glands,  which  are  more 


OTHER    PIG  AILMENTS.  135 

or  less  painful  on  pressure.  Sow  may  not  allow  the  pigs  to  suck  ; 
she  may  lie  flat  on  her  belly  or  stand  up,  and  in  extreme  cases  the 
sow  has  spells  of  delirium,  in  which  she  may  destroy  her  young. 

Cause.— Injudicious  feeding,  overfeeding  on  milk-producing 
foods.  Do  not  feed  sow  quite  full  rations  for  few  days  just  before 
and  after  farrowing. 

Treatment.— Give  sow  plenty  of  cool  clean  water  ;  bathe  the 
swollen  glands  for  half  hour  at  a  time  with  water  as  warm  as  she 
will  bear,  dry  thoroughly  with  soft  cloth  and  give  good  dry  pen. 
If  bowels  seem  constipated  give  the  sow  internally  one-half  pint 
pure  linseed  oil.  (Never  use  the  boiled  linseed  oil  used  by 
painters;  it  is  poisonous.)  If  the  sow  starts  killing  her  young,  or 
has  no  milk  for  them,  it  is  best  to  take  most  of  them,  or  all,  away 
from  her  and  feed  by  hand  with  spoon  or  ordinary  rubber  nipple 
and  bottle.  For-  this  use  one  part  boiled  water  and  three  parts 
cow's  milk.  The  pigs  may  be  returned  to  the  sow  if  her  milk 
returns. 

SCOURS  among  pigs  is  another  common  and  very  troublesome 
though  not  dangerous  disease.  This  disease  is  not  confined  to 
any  particular  season,  but  is  more  common  in  the  wet,  damp 
weather  of  April  and  early  May  than  in  other  seasons  of  the  year. 

As  in  thumps,  remove  the  cause.  This  disease  is  almost  in- 
variably caused  by  some  improper  food  eaten  by  the  sow.  A  sour 
swill  barrel  is  often  the  cause.  But  to  be  doubly  sure  that  I  make 
no  mistake  in  removing  the  cause  I  stop  all  feed  and  give  nothing 
but  water  to  drink  and  possibly  a  little  dry  corn  to  eat  for  three  or 
four  days,  and  I  seldom  fail  to  bring  about  a  speedy  cure.  It 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  pigs  once  affected  will  be  more 
liable  to  a  recurrence  of  the  disease  than  those  never  affected,  and 
greater  care  should  be  used  with  them  for  some  weeks  till  they 
fully  recover. 

CONSTIPATION. — Cause,  improper  feeding,  exclusive  grain 
diet,  lack  of  exercise.  Not  dangerous  in  itself,  but  frequently 
followed  by  prolapsus  of  the  rectum,  or  what  is  commonly  called 
piles.  The  constant  straining  causes  this.  The  only  remedy  is 
laxative  food  and  exercise.  The  protruding  bowel  must  be  washed 
clean  as  soon  as  seen  and  well  covered  with  olive  oil  or  lard.  It 
should  then  be  returned  by  applying  firm  pressure  with  the  hand, 
and  when  once  in  place  should  be  retained  by  three  or  more 
stitches  of  waxed  linen  or  heavy  silk  thread,  passed  from  side  to 


136  HIGGLE  SWINE  BOOK. 

side  through  the  margins  of  the  opening,  care  being  used  to  take 
a  deep  hold  in  the  skin. 

While  this  operation  is  being  done  the  animal  should  be  held 
by  the  hind  legs  by  two  assistants,  thus  elevating  the  hind 
quarters.  Allow  stitches  to  remain  two  or  three  weeks. 

RHEUMATISM.— A  disease  of  the  joints,  manifested  by  pain, 
heat  and  lameness,  with  swelling  of  one  or  several  joints.  There 
may  be  high  fever  and  loss  of  appetite.  May  be  acute  and  rapid 
in  its  course,  or  slow,  chronic  and  resulting  in  permanent  enlarge- 
ments of  the  bones  of  the  legs,  especially  the  knee  and  hock. 

Causes. — Primarily  deranged  digestion,  lack  of  exercise; 
dampness  and  exposure  to  draughts  of  cold  air  also  a  cause.  The 
tendency  to  rheumatism  is  hereditary  in  certain  families  of  hogs. 

Treatment. — Endeavor  to  prevent  by  proper  exercise,  food 
and  attention  to  surroundings.  Do  not  breed  rheumatic  speci- 
mens even  if  fully  recovered  from  lameness.  In  acute  cases  an 
adult  hog  should  have  twice  or  three  times  daily  one  drachm 
salicylate  soda. 

ASTHMA  sometimes  occurs  in  adult  hogs. 

Symptoms.— Shortness  of  breath  on  least  exercise,  noisy 
breathing,  more  or  less  intermittent.  Do  not  breed;  butcher  early. 

CONGESTION  OF  THE  LUNGS  sometimes  occurs,  the  result  of 
driving  or  chasing.  May  be  rapidly  fatal. 

Symptoms.- Sudden  shortness  of  breath  and  sudden  great 
weakness.  The  hog  is  not  adapted  to  rapid  driving  ;  if  it  must 
be  driven  at  all,  give  plenty  of  time. 

PNEUMONIA  (LUNG  FEVER)  may  follow  congestion  of  the 
lungs;  may  be  induced  by  crowding  too  many  hogs  together, 
when  they  heat  and  become  moist,  after  which  they  are  in  poor 
condition  to  withstand  cold. 

Symptoms. — Loss  of  appetite,  chills,  short  cough,  quick 
breathing. 

Treatment. — Separate  sick  at  once  from  the  drove;  give  dry 
quarters  with  abundance  of  dry  bedding;  tempt  appetite  with 
small  quantities  of  varied  food.  Apply  to  sides  of  chest,  enough 
to  moisten  the  skin,  twice  daily,  alcohol  and  turpentine  equal 
parts  ;  continue  until  skin  becomes  somewhat  tender. 

TETANUS  (LOCK-JAW). — Caused  by  introduction  into  the  sys- 
tem of  the  tetanus  bacteria,  which  gains  entrance  through  a  wound. 

Symptoms. — A  stiffness  of  more  or  less  the  entire  muscular 


OTHER   PIG  AILMENTS.  137 

system,  generally  most  marked  in  the  jaws,  which  are  greatly 
stiffened.  Eating  very  slow,  or  entirely  stopped;  appetite  not  lost. 

Treatment.— Some  cases  recover  if  carefully  nursed.  Give 
nourishing  drinks,  elevate  trough  or  bucket  so  the  patient  can  get 
its  snout  into  the  drink  ;  give  dissolved  in  hot  water  and  mixed 
with  the  slop  forty  grains  bromide  of  potash  two  or  three  times 
daily  until  improvement  is  noticed.  Do  not  attempt  to  drench. 
Any  wound  which  seems  to  be  a  cause  should  be  cleansed  and  wet 
often  with  five  per  cent,  solution  of  carbolic  acid  and  water. 

LICE. — Very  commonly  found  upon  hogs.  They  are  intro- 
duced by  new  purchases  or  by  visiting  animals. 

Caution  — Examine  the  newly  purchased  hog  well  on  this 
point  before  placing  with  the  drove.  Hog  lice  are  quite  large  and 
easily  detected  on  clean  white  animals,  but  not  readily  on  dark  or 
dirty  skins. 

Remedy. — Wash  well  with  soap  and  warm  water,  if  weather 
is  not  too  cold,  then  apply  enough  petroleum  and  lard,  equal 
parts,  to  give  the  skin  a  complete  greasing.  If  weather  is  too 
cold  for  washing,  clean  with  stiff  brusn.  Creolin  one  part  to 
water  five  parts  is  also  a  safe  and  sure  remedy.  Two  or  more 
applications  are  necessary  at  intervals  of  four  or  five  days  to 
complete  the  job.  The  woodwork  of  pens  and  rubbing  places 
must  be  completely  whitewashed. 

MANGE.— Caused  by  a  microscopic  parasite  which  lives  in  the 
skin  at  the  roots  of  the  bristles. 

Symptoms. — Intense  itching  with  redness  of  the  skin  from  the 
irritation  of  rubbing.  Rather  rare,  but  very  contagious. 

Treatment. — Separate  diseased  animals  ;  scrub  them  thor- 
oughly with  warm  water  and  strong  soap  ;  apply  ointment  com- 
posed of  lard,  one  pound  ;  carbonate  of  potash,  one  ounce  ;  flor. 
sulphur,  two  ounces  ;  wash  and  re-apply  every  four  days. 

MAGGOTS. — The  larvae  of  the  ordinary  blow-fly  fiequently 
infest  wounds  on  hogs  during  the  summer  months.  Watch  all 
wounds  during  hot  weather;  keep  them  wet  frequently  with 
creolin  one  part  and  water  six  parts,  or  five  per  cent,  watery 
solution  carbolic  acid.  If  the  maggots  gain  entrance  to  the 
wound,  apply  either  above  remedies  freely,  or  ordinary  turpen- 
tine with  a  brush  or  common  oil  can. 

ROUND  WORMS. — Very  common  in  shotes  and  young  hogs,  not 
apparently  harmful,  unless  in  great  numbers,  when  they  cause 


138  HIGGLE   SWINE   BOOK. 

loss  of  flesh.  They  may  be  exterminated  by  keeping  the  hog 
without  food  for  twenty-four  hours,  and  giving  to  each  shote  or 
old  pig  one  tablespoonful  of  turpentine  thoroughly  beaten  up 
with  one  egg  and  one-half  pint  of  milk.  Good  food  and  care  will 
generally  prevent  serious  injury  from  round  worms.  Hogs  in- 
fested should  not  be  pastured  with  others,  or  where  others  may 
pasture  within  a  year.  The  adult  worms  are  passed  off  with  the 
manure,  and  being  filled  with  eggs,  render  the  pasture  unsafe  for 
many  months,  as  the  eggs  withstand  extreme  and  long  continued 
exposure  I  lost  several  shotes,  in  fact  eight  out  of  a  lot  of  nine. 
They  would  come  to  the  trough  and  drink,  apparently  all  right, 
then  bound  into  the  air,  squeal  and  lie  down  and  die.  I  was  then 
told  they  had  throat  worms.  I  caught  the  only  remaining  one  and 
poured  down  its  throat  a  teaspoonful  of  spirits  of  turpentine.  It 
squealed  as  loudly  as  any  of  them,  but  lived  and  raised  a  fine 
litter  of  pigs. 

PARALYSIS  OF  THE  HIND  PARTS. — When  hogs  are  affected  by 
worms  in  the  kidneys,  they  are  sore  across  the  loins  and  seem  to 
have  lost  the  use  of  their  hind  parts.  When  forced  to  do  so  they 
will  get  up  and  walk,  but  when  the  hinder  parts  are  paralyzed 
they  will  not  get  up  and  cannot  walk.  For  the  last  trouble,  stimu- 
late the  surface  with  washing  and  rubbing  with  hot  water,  and 
keep  the  bed  dry  and  clean.  Turn  them  over  and  be  patient ; 
they  will  generally  get  over  it.  They  must  have  cooling  and  lax- 
ative foods.  For  worms  in  the  kidneys,  rub  the  back  across  the 
loins  with  spirits  of  turpentine  every  other  day  for  a  week,  and  it 
not  better  give  a  dose  at  the  mouth  on  an  empty  stomach,  one  or 
two  tablespoonfuls  according  to  size.  Do  this  two  or  three  times. 
Dilute  the  turpentine  with  milk. 

The  most  common  form  of  tapeworm  in  man  is  derived  from 
eating  pork  which  contains  the  larval  form  of  this  parasite.  The 
embryos  are  visible  to  the  naked  eye  in  infected  pork  ;  each  em- 
bryo is  surrounded  by  a  small  bladder-like  sac,  about  the  size  of 
a  grain  of  shot.  When  such  pork  is  eaten  by  man  in  uncooked ,  or 
partly  cooked,  condition,  the  embryo  worms  develop  into  adult 
worms,  which  reach  many  feet  or  yards  in  length.  The  mature 
worm  in  man  is  continually  throwing  off  sections  of  its  body 
filled  with  eggs.  If  these  are  eaten  by  the  hog,  they  hatch  in  the 
hog's  stomach  and  bore  their  way  into  the  flesh  of  the  pig. 

Prevention. — Avoid  the  use  of  infected  pork.     Prevent  hogs 


OTHER   PIG  AILMENTS.  139 

having  access  to  contents  of  water  closets,  or  to  land  fertilized  by 
the  contents  of  water  closets. 

TRICHINAE. — A  disease  of  man  due  to  eating  pork  containing 
trichinae.  Thorough  cooking  destroys  the  parasite,  but  infected 
meat  is  not  safely  used,  and  is  condemned  at  slaughter-house  in- 
spection. 

Prevention. — The  feeding  of  hogs  upon  slaughter-house  offal 
is  a  cause  for  spreading  the  parasites,  and  should  not  be  prac- 
tised. Rats  are  infected  by  eating  slaughter-house  offal,  and  as 
the  rats  are  frequently  eaten  by  the  pig,  infection  likely  often  is 
the  result.  Exterminate  the  rats  and  do  not  feed  offal. 

TUBERCULOSIS  (CONSUMPTION).  A  contagious  disease  com- 
mon in  man,  cattle  and  not  rare  in  the  hog. 

Symptoms. — Loss  of  flesh,  cough,  diarrhoea,  swelling  about 
the  head  and  neck,  which  may  open  and  discharge  with  little 
tendency  to  heal ;  death  in  from  few  weeks  to  months.  Post 
mortem  shows  various  sized  tubercles,  which  may  be  situated  in 
any  part  of  the  body,  most  commonly  in  the  bowels,  lungs,  liver, 
or  glands  of  the  neck. 

Causes. — Direct  contagion  from  other  hogs,  but  generally 
from  feeding  milk  from  tuberculous  cows,  or  by  eating  butcher 
offal  from  such  cows. 

Prevention.— Care  as  to  the  source  of  the  milk  fed  ;  if  suspi- 
cious, boiling  will  render  it  safe.  Do  not  feed  butcher  offal ;  sep- 
arate suspicious  hogs  at  once,  and  if  satisfied  they  are  tubercu- 
lous, kill  and  bury  deep,  or  burn  them.  The  tuberculin  test  can 
be  applied  to  the  remainder  of  drove,  as  without  it  it  is  impos- 
sible to  say  how  many  may  be  diseased. 

WOUNDS  generally  heal  readily  in  the  hog  if  kept  clean  and 
free  from  maggots.  The  result  of  neglected  castration  wounds 
is  sometimes  serious.  Have  the  animal  clean  as  possible  when 
castrated,  and  endeavor  to  keep  it  clean  and  give  opportunity  for 
abundant  exercise  until  wound  is  healed.  There  is  probably 
nothing  better  and  safer  to  apply  to  wounds  of  the  hog  than 
creolin  one  part,  water  six  parts. 

TRAVEL  SICKNESS. — Similar  to  ordinary  sea-sickness  in  man  ; 
very  common  in  shipping  pigs  by  wagon. 

Symptoms. — Vomiting,  diarrhoea,  great  depression  ;  seldom  if 
ever  fatal.  May  be  rendered  much  less  severe  by  very  light  feed- 
ing before  shipment. 


140 


BIGGLE  SWINE  BOOK. 


Swine,  like  human  beings,  suffer  from  wet  feet. 
The  hog,  unlike  the  farmer,  grunts  when  grateful. 
Don't  breed  "  squealers  ;  "  the  well-bred  hog  is  seldom  noisy. 
Bury  the  idea  that  anything  is  good  enough  to  feed  the  hog. 
Sows  should  be  weeded  out  as  well  as  cows. 
Keep  only  good  milkers. 

A  tame  pig  will  turn  its  owner  a  profit,  a  wild 
one  is  a  nuisance  on  any  farm. 

Don't  keep  the  boar   with  crooked   legs,  no 
matter  what  his  pedigree  may  be. 

Many  old  farmers  scrub  scabby  pigs  with  but- 
"'••••        termilk,  and  it  proves  to  be  a  good  thing. 

The  old   legal   fence  in  Pennsylvania  was  re- 
quired to  be  horse  high,  bull  strong  and  hog  tight. 

Kill  a  runt  that  won't  grow  with  proper  care,  and  in  nine  cases 
out  often  you  will  find  traces  of  organic  disease. 

Sudden  changes  are  usually  to  be  avoided,  but  the  change 
from  a  wet  bed  to  a  dry  one  cannot  be  too  sudden. 

Do  not  compel  the  brood  sow  to  climb  a  steep  plank  to  get 
into  her  pen  :  it  causes  serious  injury  and  difficult  births. 

It  has  been  determined  by  actual  experiment  that  poor  feed- 
ing is  the  great  cause  for  extra  development  in  the  length  of  the 
snout. 

All  the  improved  breeds  are  able  to  equal  their  advertised  per- 
formances, but  it  requires  skill  on  the  part  of 
the  breeder  and  feeder. 

Here  is  a  good  way  to  lead  a  little  pig. 
Tie  the  rope  around  his  throat  so  it  will  not 
choke  him,  then  carry  it  back  and  make  a  loop 
back  of  his  legs.  He  can't  get  away  if  the  rope 
doesn't  break  and  you  can  hold  him.  - -J-1-'  "-J  ;=^a^"; 

A  friend  of  mine  has  a  box  with  a  slit  at  the  bottom  opening 
into  a  trough  in  which  he  keeps  constantly  a  mixture  of  one 
pound  of  copperas,  one  pound  of  sulphur,  one  pound  of  black 
antimony,  one-quarter  pound  of  saltpetre,  one  quart  of  salt  and 
one-half  bushel  of  wood  ashes.  He  has  it  in  a  dry  place  where 
all  his  hogs  can  get  at  it  and  thinks  this  is  one  reason  why  he  has 
never  had  cholera  on  his  place. 

It  used  to  be  quite  common  in  some  sections 
to  see  pigs  out  to  pasture  and  along  the  roads 
Y)  with  yokes  so  they  could  not  scramble  through 
the  fences.  The  yoke  and  manner  of  applying  it 
are  shown  in  the  illustration.  Now-a-days  good 
"  wire  fencing  that  is  hog  proof  is  so  cheap  and  so 
universally  used  that  I  have  not  seen  a  yoked  hog  for  a  long  time 
in  my  neighborhood. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 
SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS. 


Let  the  motto  be,  better  pork  at  less  cost. — John  Tucker. 

To  tell  the  weight  of  swine 
I  measure  the  girt  in  inches  back 
I  of  the  shoulder,  and  the  length 
in  inches  from  the  square  of  the 
I  rump  to  a  point  even  with  the 
point  of    the    shoulder  blade. 
CHESTER  WHITE.          Multiply  the  girt  and  length  and 
divide   the   product  by    144,   multiply  the   result    by 
eleven  if  the  girt  is  less  than  three  feet,  or  by  sixteen 
if  over  three  feet.     The  answer  will  be  the  number  of 
pounds  of  pork.     If  the  animal  is  lean  and  lank,  a  de- 
duction of  five  per  cent,  from  the  above  should  be  made. 
Pork  can  be  made  better  by  feeding  for  quality 
rather  than  for  quantity. 

Pork  can  be  made  at  less  cost  (far  less  than  the 
average)  by  giving  only  the  requisite  amount  of  food, 
with  muscle-making  ingredients  properly  proportioned 
to  fat-making  ingredients. 

These  are  the  two  lines  along  which  farmers  must 
seek  increased  profits  in  pork  production. 

It  seems  strange  to  say  that  skim-milk  is  really 
worth  more  for  food  than  whole  milk,  and  farmers  do 
not  generally  so  regard  it.  Yet  such  is  a  fact,  pro- 
vided it  be  fed  in  connection  with  corn  or  other  carbo- 


142  BIGGLE   SWINE    BOOK. 

naceous  food.  All  farmers  who  are  careless  of  skim- 
milk  are  wasting  with  every  100  pounds  an  article  that 
is  capable  of  producing  twenty  cents'  worth  of  pork  or 
ten  cents'  worth  of  manure. 

Skim-milk  should  be  fed  sweet,  it  should  be  fed 
often  (three  or  four  times  a  day)  and  it  should  be  fed 
warm. 

I  have  a  great  many  old  and  successful  farmer 
neighbors,  but  find  that  most  of  them  are  still  depend- 
ing solely  on  the  lessons  of  practical  (and  sometimes 
very  costly)  experience.  Few  of  them  take  the  trouble 
to  apply  arithmetic  to  stock-feeding  operations.  The 
younger  ones,  on  the  other  hand,  are  on  the  alert,  and 
are  well  read  in  recent  farm  literature,  and  these  boys, 
as  I  call  them,  are  sure  to  be  heard  from  before  many 
years.  They  will  be  the  leading  farmers  of  the  future  ; 
not  better  men  than  their  fathers,  nor  better  citizens, 
but  making  money  out  of  farming  under  conditions  alto- 
gether different  and  vastly  more  scientific  than  pre- 
vailed a  generation  ago. 

Of  course,  I  cannot  lay  particular  stress  on  the 
breed  of  hogs  which  happens  to  be  my  favorite,  for  my 
local  surroundings  are  of  course  different  from  those 
of  many  other  farmers  who  will  read  this  book,  and 
who  have  different  conditions  from  those  which  have 
determined  my  choice.  I  cheerfully  admit  that  there 
are  a  half  score  of  first-class  breeds  now  well  estab- 
lished in  America,  and  if  I  should  be  compelled  to 
change  my  home  I  might  also  be  compelled  to  change 
my  breed  of  hogs. 

Cleanly,  well-managed  operations  will  result  in 
pork  of  a  superior  quality,  because  of  the  better  health 


SUMMARY    AND    CONCLUSIONS.  143 

and  more  rapid  growth  of  the  pigs  ;  and  cleanliness 
will  in  all  cases  be  accompanied  by  a  large  manure  heap. 
I  give  herewith  the  names  and  addresses  of  the 
various  blooded  swine  breeders'  associations,  so  that 
those  desiring  special  information  in  regard  to  any 
particular  breed  may  know  where  to  get  it : 

American  Berkshire  Association.  Secretary,  Thos.  Rees, 
Springfield,  111. 

American  Chester  White  Record  Association.  Secretary,  Carl 
Freigau,  Dayton,  Ohio. 

American  Duroc  Jersey  Swine  Breeders'  Association.  A.  V. 
Bradrick,  Connersville,  Ind. 

American  Essex  Association,  The.  Secretary,  F.  M.  Srout, 
McLean,  111. 

American  Poland  China  Record  Co.  Secretary,  W.  M.  McFad- 
den,  West  Liberty,  Iowa. 

American  Small  Yorkshire  Club.  Secretary,  George  W.  Har- 
ris, New  York  City. 

American  Tamworth  Swine  Record  Association.  Secretary, 
Edwin  O.  Wood,  Flint,  Mich. 

Central  Poland  China  Association,  The.  Secretary,  W.  H. 
Morris,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Cheshire  Swine  Breeders'  Association.  Secretary,  B.  B.  Bad- 
ger, Onaquaga,  N.  Y. 

International  Ohio  Improved  Chester  Record  Association. 
Secretary,  Herbert  A.  Jones,  Himrods,  N.  Y. 

National  Berkshire  Record  Association.  E.  K.  Morris,  In- 
dianapolis, Ind. 

National  Duroc  Jersey  Record  Association.  Secretary,  Robert 
J.  Evans,  El  Paso,  111. 

Ohio  Poland  China  Record  Co.  Secretary,  Carl  Freigau, 
Dayton,  Ohio. 

Standard  Poland  China  Record  Association.  Secretary, 
George  F.  Woodworth,  Maryville,  Mo. 

Standard  Chester  White  Record  Association.  Secretary,  W. 
H.  Morris,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Victoria  Swine  Breeders'  Association.  Secretary,  Geo.  Davis, 
Dyer,  Ind. 


INDEX. 

Ashes 62,  71  Ohio  Improved  Chester 

Asthma 136  White  Breed 17 

Auction  Sales 85        Paralysis 138 

Bacon 92,  101        Pasture  for  Hogs 46 

Bacon  Hog 82  Pickling  Pork      ....      94,  97 

Berkshire  Breed 15        Pneumonia 136 

Blind  Staggers 134  Poland  China  Breed  ....    14 

Brood  Sow 28        Rheumatism 136 

Carbonaceous  Foods,  List  of  73        Ringing  Hogs 40 

Castration 37        Sausages     95,  101 

Charcoal 62,71        Scalding  Hogs 90 

Cheshire  Breed 19        Scoring  Pigs. 23 

Chester  White  Breed    .    .    .    16        Scours 135 

Cholera  Remedy     .  .    .  128        Scrapple 96 

Congestion  of  the  Lungs       136        Sick  Stomach 134 

Constipation     135        Silage 60 

Consumption 139        Skim-milk 71 

Cooking  Food ?3        Smoking         97 

Corn,  Green 83        Sore  Mouth 133 

Cutting  up  Carcass    ....    91        Souse 96 

Duroc  Jersey  Breed    ....    17        Spaying 37 

Essex  Breed 20        Statistics u 

External  Hog,  Parts  of  the    9        Suffolk  Breed 21 

Flooring 47  Sugar  Cured  Hams    ....    93 

Founder 134        Swill 61 

Gestation,  Period  of  ....    29  Swill  Barrel           .    .    .    .  61,  113 

Head-Cheese 96  Swine  Associations    ....  143 

Indigestion 134        Tamworth  Breed 17 

Jefferson  County  Pigs  ...     19        Technical  Terms 130 

Jersey  Red  Breed 17        Thumps 

Lard      94        Trichinae i ; 

Lice .      137        Troughs <• 

Lock-jaw 136        Vermin i 

Maggots 137        Victoria  Breed 

Mange      137        Wolff's  Tables u.v 

Meat  Inspection 12        Worms 137 

Mess  Pork 94        WTounds 139 

Milk  Fever 134        Yorkshire  Breeds 18 

Nitrogenous  Foods,  List  of  73 


7  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 


This  publication  is  due  on  the  LAST  DAT 
stamped  below. 


